Toni Dimaano Tech 12.25.2022 23:Dec PM EST

Twitter Brings Back Its Suicide Prevention Feature After Its Brief Removal

After receiving criticism for removing a feature that promoted suicide prevention hotlines and support groups, Twitter CEO Elon Musk has since reinstated the said feature on the platform.

Musk Denies The Removal Of The Feature

The #ThereIsHelp banner, which directed users to suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources when searching for specific content, is reportedly being worked on by the company.

The removal was confirmed by Twitter's head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, but she added that it was only temporary while the social media platform fixed and updated its prompts.

"We know these prompts are useful in many cases and just want to make sure they are functioning properly and continue to be relevant," Irwin reveals.

The executive also emphasized that Twitter is planning to put it back up after a week, but Musk denied the feature's removal, adding that the platform does not prevent suicide, The Guardian writes.

The feature, known as #ThereIsHelp, displayed a banner at the top of search results for specific topics and provided contact information for mental health organizations in many different countries.

#ThereIsHelp also covers issues such as HIV, vaccinations, child sexual exploitation, Covid-19, violence against women, natural disasters, and freedom of speech.

According to Engadget, even though it was only temporary, the #ThereIsHelp banner's disappearance prompted some proponents of consumer safety to criticize Twitter.

The incident was described as extremely unsettling and profoundly disturbing by Eirliani Abdul Rahman, a former member of Twitter's Trust and Safety council.

Rahman also adds that businesses usually develop safety features concurrently, keeping the ones that are currently in use before replacing them.

Twitter stated that it had a duty to make sure users could "access and receive support on our service when they need it most" in one of its blog posts about the #ThereIsHelp feature.

The Disappearance Of #ThereIsHelp Puts Twitter Users In A Vulnerable Position

Since he took over the company in October, Musk has previously claimed that the number of impressions or views of harmful content has decreased, The Guardian reveals.

Even as researchers and civil rights organizations have observed an increase in tweets with racial slurs and other hateful content, the CEO has tweeted graphs showing a downward trend in such.

The businessman has also stated on Twitter that he wants to fight child abuse imagery and has criticized how the previous owner handled the situation.

However, he has significantly reduced the teams responsible for handling potentially offensive material and has removed features safeguarding users from potential harm.

On Saturday, the #ThereIsHelp banner reappeared in international searches for domestic violence and suicide using abbreviations like "shtwt," which stands for "self-harm Twitter."

Although consumer safety organizations have criticized the company for allowing posts that they claim violate the policy, Twitter prohibits users from encouraging self-harm.

It was unclear whether the feature had been reinstated for other categories, but it was not showing up for some search terms that Twitter had previously claimed to have caused it, like "#HIV, Business World notes.