X.com (formerly Twitter) quietly removes the option to report “misleading information”

Apparently, Elon Musk has succeeded in eradicating fake news.

Otherwise, why would its platform simply remove the option to report content that shares disinformation? While it is undeniable that this option was far from sufficient to effectively combat fake news on this possibility will clearly not help his case.

And beyond the well-known risks of letting false information spread, such a decision may well reinforce the European Union in its relationship with X.com, which considers the platform to be the worst student in this area among social networks . If nothing changes quickly, it could in the near future be subject to heavy fines or simply be banned in EU countries. Considering its financial situation, the company frankly does not need that.

It is no longer possible to report misinformation on X.com

This is clearly not an error, but a deliberate choice: it is always possible to report tweets for violence, hatred, spam, or even identity theft. Without any public communication on the issue, nor presentation in one of its general conditions pages on the change, X.com perhaps hoped to pass it quietly so as to never have to explain itself on the subject, and let the “community notes” do the rectification work.

X.com has become the social network of disinformation

It’s likely that since Musk took the reins of what was still called Twitter not long ago, reports for misinformation have exploded in number. The decisions taken by the billionaire almost always seemed oriented in this direction as they neglected this type of risk. Among the latter, we of course include the change in the verification system, for which many activists and experts on the issue had estimated that the quality of the information would suffer.

Then there was the general amnesty granted to previously banned accounts, some for hate speech or more generally discriminatory, but of course also for spreading disinformation, the two obviously not being exclusive. Elon Musk himself doesn’t always seem to be the number one fan of the truth.

It must be recognized that the possibility of reporting which has been removed will, in fact, not have much impact as the moderation staff, already far from being plethora before, have been reduced at X.com, even more than in the rest of the company.

But for X.com, agreeing to be the social network of disinformation risks having other consequences: in a report presented this Tuesday, the European Union estimated that it was the worst social network in terms of to combat fake news, particularly those of Russian origin. And this could quickly pose a problem for it in Europe, where the adoption of the DSA imposes in particular reinforced control on the question, at the risk of being inflicted with heavy fines and even a ban on the territory of the Member States in the event of recidivism. At Priori, it’s not really like he can afford it.

Source : Mashable, BFMTV