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Elon Musk confirms X team handling election disinformation has been fired

By Nithya Bose in Twitter/X News, posted September 29, 2023

Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has fired a global team working on election misinformation on the platform.

This comes after the European Union reported the highest ratio of disinformation on X among six social media platforms in three European countries.

With approximately 70 elections worldwide on the horizon, Musk confirmed the dissolution of the "Election Integrity" team.

He wrote: “Oh you mean the ‘Election Integrity’ Team that was undermining election integrity? Yeah, they’re gone.”

Reports suggest multiple Dublin-based employees, including Aaron Rodericks, the co-lead of the election disinformation team, have left the company.

Rodericks had obtained an injunction against X after sharing information about recruiting staff for his team on his account.

He claimed the company didn’t take action when he faced online abuse from people accusing him of stifling freedom of speech on X.

Musk also gave his first reaction to EU allegations of X having the most fake news.

He posted an image on the platform featuring penguins bearing logos of major social media platforms saluting another penguin adorned with the X logo.

In August, the EU implemented new laws mandating that social media platforms remove fake accounts, disinformation, and hate speech.

X's rivals, including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Google, and Microsoft, have taken measures to comply with these laws and report to the EU.

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While Twitter opted out of the EU's code of practice, Musk had previously committed to adhering to these rules.

Under Musk's leadership, concerns regarding content moderation on X have led to an advertising boycott of the platform, which relies heavily on ad revenue.

Musk confirmed a 60 percent drop in advertising revenue since acquiring the business and attributed this decline to anti-hate speech advocacy groups.

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He sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate for its coverage of X.

The billionaire has also threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League for raising concerns about antisemitic content on the platform.

Currently, X has not provided an official comment on the matter.

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