Elon Musk Patrick Pleul/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
Twitter owner Elon Musk said the social platform must become “the most accurate source of information”.
Critics pointed out that Musk shared an inaccurate story about the attack on Paul Pelosi last week.
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey also intervened in the conversation.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted Sunday that his goal is to make Twitter the “most accurate” media platform, but critics say the billionaire has made decisions on the platform that suggest otherwise.
“Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That’s our mission.” Musk tweeted Sunday evening. He also shared a similar sentiment in a Tweet from November 2ndin which he said Twitter will become the most accurate news source “regardless of political affiliation”.
Critics were quick to point out that Musk had linked days earlier to inaccurate news following the Oct. 28 attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, in which an intruder broke into her San Francisco home and Paul hit Pelosi with a hammer. Pelosi was discharged from hospital on Thursday after being admitted with a fractured skull following the attack.
On Oct. 30, in response to a tweet from Hillary Clinton denouncing the attack, Musk shared a link to a website that promoted conspiracy theories about the attack, including one that falsely claimed the attacker was a male hired by Pelosi Prostitute.
“There’s a tiny possibility that there’s more to this story than meets the eye,” Musk said answeredwhich links to a website headlined, “The Horrific Truth: Paul Pelosi Was Drunk Again and In an Argue With a Male Prostitute Early Friday Morning.”
Musk later deleted the tweet.
MSNBC journalist and political commentator Mehdi Hasan one from dozens from accounts that on Sunday evening pointed to Musk’s distribution of the unfounded article.
“Literally a week ago today, Musk posted a link to a fake news website (which once suggested that Hillary Clinton was dead and had been replaced by a body double),” Hasan wrote on Twitter. “Worse, he then deleted that tweet with no explanation or apology. But sure, his ‘mission’ is accurate information.”
The story goes on
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey also responded to Musk’s tweet: ask “exactly for whom?”
Musk responded to Dorsey, saying he would base the accuracy on “the people of Twitter via Community Notes,” a feature that allows Twitter to add context to posts they find misleading.
Musk didn’t provide detailed information on how he intends to improve accuracy on the site.
Dorsey also tweeted that a better goal for the platform would be to make the site “more informative” than “more accurate”.
The note feature, originally called Birdwatch, was previously used in a Musk tweet. On Friday, Users added context to a tweet Musk shared about “activist groups pressuring advertisers” to pause their ads on Twitter.
Over the past week, Musk has shared many far-reaching plans for the platform, including monetization of content created by creators, a new verification subscription model, and new rules for accounts impersonating other users.
Twitter officials did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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