Concerning.
Trigger Happy
X-formerly-Twitter has just released the first transparency report to come out under its new ownership, which includes internal figures on how it’s been enforcing its content moderation policies. And some of the data suggests that its overlord Elon Musk isn’t quite the “free speech absolutist” he makes himself out to be.
Musk took over Twitter in the second half of 2022. Since then, suspensions of non-spam accounts have actually increased. In the first six months of this year, the platform has suspended 5.3 million users — which is more than three times as many as the 1.6 million that were suspended in the first half of 2022, Fortune reported.
It’s also striking that these numbers are climbing in spite of the fact that Twitter’s user base appears to be dwindling. This could suggest an even more pronounced escalation in cracking down on users that break the site’s rules — and it could also be a sign of the uptick in hate speech on the platform that many critics have blamed on Musk, who often boosts far-right rhetoric and conspiracy theories himself.
Needless to say, none of this evinces the laissez-faire, censorship-free paradise that Musk has often promised.
Spooky Stats
How frequently Twitter cooperates with government requests under Musk’s stewardship is perhaps what contradicts this vision the most.
As The Washington Post noted, the site complied with 71 percent of the thousands of legal requests it received to take down posts on its platform in the first half of this year. The highest it had been before that was just over 50 percent in 2021, with most pre-Musk years falling even lower.
The majority came from a repeat handful of countries, including Japan, South Korea, and Turkey, the president of which Musk has personal ties to.
But the most high profile instance came from Brazil, after a high court judge threatened to block Twitter in its borders if the site didn’t ban several accounts that were deemed to be spreading misinformation. Musk initially resisted, clinging to his free speech values, but eventually gave into the demands.
Rules for Fools
Any big social media site will require some moderation, but Musk’s track record has shown that he doesn’t apply his rules equally.
In addition to personally reinstating the accounts of people he liked — often prominent right wingers — including Donald Trump, he has also banned journalists that were vocal critics of him and his allies.
Just this week, the platform suspended the account of a journalist for sharing a link to a hacked dossier on JD Vance, Trump’s pick for Vice President. Musk has endorsed Trump and is reportedly bankrolling his campaign.
By now, it’s no surprise that Musk has some major caveats around his concept of “free speech” — but the sheer uptick in suspensions is astounding.
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