The article claimed without evidence that Pelosi was drunk at the time of the attack and “in a dispute with a male prostitute.” The article, which was amplified by several right-wing figures, cited no source and attributed its content to IMHO – internet shorthand for “in my humble opinion”.
Musk faced immediate and widespread backlash from users who said the tweet exposed his ownership of Twitter as frivolous and accused him of promoting a baseless conspiracy theory.
One commenter, Yael Eisenstat, a vice president of the Anti-Defamation League and former Facebook executive, noted on Twitter that Musk appeared to be breaking his promise to advertisers last week that the site would not become a “hellscape” under his ownership.
When the world’s richest man/owner of this very site peddles conspiracy theories days after declaring to advertisers that he will be a responsible leader, all I can say is: I’m not reacting by voicing my concerns. Actions always speak louder than words. pic.twitter.com/00RhlJa4rh
— Yael Eisenstat (@YaelEisenstat) October 30, 2022
Another Twitter user, David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official and political pundit with nearly 293,000 Twitter followers, suggested Musk would eventually have to stop himself.
It’s already becoming clear that in order to save Twitter, Elon will eventually have to stop himself.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) October 30, 2022
A few hours later, Musk deleted his tweet. It was not immediately clear what prompted him to do so.
But it highlights the conflict Musk faces as he takes over a social media platform whose moderation policies he has repeatedly criticized as too strict, while also vowing not to allow it to become free for advertisers. they may not want to be associated with it. . Already, Musk has had to admit that suspended accounts like those of former President Donald Trump won’t be reinstated until an as-yet-undefined “moderation council” is convened to determine the policy.
Neither Musk nor Twitter responded to a request for comment.
Musk has one of the largest audiences of any public figure on Twitter, and is among its most prolific tweeters. He has a history of using his account to promote or allude to misinformation and to interact with and amplify a prominent right-wing online influence circle.
Before the Twitter acquisition closed, Musk expressed a broad view of free speech, arguing for little policing beyond platforms that remove speech that was clearly illegal. This approach would preclude policing misinformation, disinformation, harassment, bullying and other content that Twitter and other social media companies crack down on, through a system of deletions, warnings and soft takedowns known as “bans on shadow”.
But this willingness to spread misinformation—or to amplify it using the “just raise questions” tactic—can create major conflicts for him and for Twitter now that he owns the company.
Musk’s tweet on Sunday did not appear to violate any of Twitter’s current rules because it was framed as a question and because the types of disinformation bans on Twitter are quite limited. It is not known whether he faced pressure from within Twitter or from advertisers before deleting it.
Historically, owners of social media companies, such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have tried to avoid controversial public political opinions because they don’t want to be perceived as putting their finger on the scale of the algorithms that govern public expression. Additionally, social media platforms, including Twitter, have pushed the public toward authoritative sources of information to counter the spread of misinformation on their services. Placing links and curated tags on reputable news sites is a key part of Twitter and other companies’ strategies to combat fraudulent content.
Advertisers, who are the main source of revenue for Twitter, are also known to object to such content. An advertiser boycott of Facebook in 2020 helped the social media platform adopt tougher policies on hate speech.
“Musk owning Twitter is like putting the fox on top of the chicken when it comes to political disinformation,” said Joan Donovan, research director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. . School. “When he was just a user, it didn’t matter as much as it does now, because people might not trust the platform if they don’t trust the core values of the owner.”
Donovan said Musk’s tweet failed to recognize the value of Twitter as a place where people seek authoritative information on everything from geopolitical conflicts to elections.
“We would imagine that to be seen as a trusted interlocutor, as a politician, business owner or journalist, he would care about the quality of news in the so-called public square,” she said, adding that he should issued a correction.
The Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spew hate and crazy conspiracy theories. It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result. As citizens, we must hold them accountable for their words and the actions that follow.https://t.co/MQor4NDFeE
– Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 29, 2022
Twitter generally does not ban disinformation, except in certain cases. The company has a “crisis disinformation policy,” launched earlier this year during the war in Ukraine, that allows the company to place a warning notice and reduce content that “mischaracterizes conditions on the ground” as a conflict evolves.
The company also bans “deep fakes,” or posting any image or video that has been manipulated, as well as misinformation about the coronavirus. Content that aims to mislead the public about voting processes or an election result is reduced by the company’s algorithms and may receive warning labels and links to authoritative information.
In 2020, Musk tweeted that “Kids are basically immune” to Covid-19, a comment that appeared to defy Twitter’s ban on content that contradicts established public health information about the virus (Kids and (people of all ages can contract and experience complications from the coronavirus, according to the Mayo Clinic, although they are less likely to become seriously ill).
In 2018, Musk tweeted that he had “secured financing” to take Tesla private at $420 per share, prompting the Securities and Exchange Commission to charge him with defrauding investors. Musk and the SEC settled, with Musk agreeing that he would step down as chairman of Tesla’s board and that he and the company would each pay a $20 million fine.
He has also removed tweets in the past. Just this month, Musk tweeted and then deleted a meme suggesting that he, former President Donald Trump, and rapper and designer Ye (formerly Kanye West) owned different social networks (Ye bought the conservative network Parler, and Trump controls the his, TruthSocial ). Twitter users captured screenshots of the tweet, which read, “In retrospect, it was inevitable.”
