Musk disables the function to report disinformation in the elections in X (Twitter)
Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly known as Twitter), has disabled the ability of users to complain about election-related disinformation. The news comes amid an increase in fake news ahead of important elections in the US and Australia, Reuters reports.
In 2022, the function of complaining about posts that contained misleading information about politics was introduced. However, X has recently removed this category from its menu, except for European Union countries, as noted by the research organization Reset.Tech Australia.
However, users can still complain about other violations, such as incitement to violence or hate speech.
This news sparked a discussion, as social media are now facing a lot of pressure for spreading false information about the election process.
All of this is happening a few weeks before a referendum in Australia, where citizens will decide on changes to the constitution, and a year before the US presidential election.
Reset.Tech Australia expresses its concern that the lack of the ability to complain about disinformation may affect the political situation in countries.
Since Musk acquired Twitter and changed its name to X, the company has been criticized for the growing amount of disinformation and hate speech on the platform.
Musk claims that the new “Community Notes” feature, which allows users to comment and mark posts as misleading, is more effective. However, comments become public only when they receive a positive response from the community.
Meanwhile, in Australia, regulators are demanding an explanation from X for the sharp rise in the number of posts containing hate speech. The Australian Electoral Commission has already stated that the level of disinformation related to the upcoming referendum is the highest in recent years.
