Arrr! Elon Musk be takin' away a crucial part o' X, me hearties – brace yerselves, for scurvy fake news be on the horizon, arrr!
2023-09-29
Avast ye scallywags! The handy-dandy tool to report any falsehoods of a political nature on the good ship X (formerly known as Twitter) be gone, me hearties! But mark me words, that be only the beginning of this grand tale!
In a surprising move, Elon Musk has disbanded the 'election integrity team' at X (formerly Twitter), a department responsible for combating misinformation online, and removed the feature that allowed users to self-report false political statements. Musk, who acquired the platform last year, made the announcement in his usual blunt style. This decision raises concerns about X's ability to manage information and content surrounding important political events.The cuts to the election integrity team resulted in over half of the global team being laid off, leaving uncertainty about how many people remain. This includes the department in Ireland, where X's Co-lead of 'threat disruption' was based. TrustLab's study revealed that X has the highest ratio of misinformation spread across its content compared to other social media platforms.
X's CEO, Linda Yaccarino, had previously stated that the platform was expanding its safety and election teams to combat manipulation and monitor emerging threats. However, the removal of the team and the reporting feature calls into question X's commitment to these efforts.
Additionally, Musk had suggested the possibility of charging users a monthly fee to use the app, and the absence of the reporting feature since the study was released has raised concerns. While users can still report spam and hateful content, there is currently no option to report electoral misinformation.
Other companies like Google have implemented plans to safeguard electoral information online, including measures to combat AI deepfakes. X's lack of action in this area is concerning, especially in the lead-up to the US Presidential election.
Overall, Musk's decision to disband the election integrity team and remove the reporting feature has sparked criticism and raised doubts about X's ability to handle the spread of misinformation.