Twitter layoffs before US midterms fuel misinformation concerns


Musk had promised to reduce Twitter's content restrictions, and since the acquisition has announced plans to create a "content moderation council" that will review company policies. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Twitter's new owner Elon Musk has pledged the platform will not devolve into a "free-for-all hellscape," but experts warn that mass layoffs may deeply impair the social network's ability to curb misinformation.

Twitter on Friday fired roughly half of its 7,500-strong workforce, only days before next week's midterm elections in the United States, when a spike in fake content is expected across social media.

The cuts, which come after Musk's blockbuster US$44 million (RM208.9) buyout of the company, hit multiple divisions, including trust and safety teams that manage content moderation as well as engineering and machine learning, US reports said.

"I would be real careful on this platform in the coming days... about what you retweet, who you follow, and even your own sense of what's going on," said Kate Starbird, a disinformation researcher and assistant professor at the University of Washington.

Starbird warned in her own Twitter post of an increased risk of "impersonation" attempts, "coordinated disinformation by manipulators" and "hoaxes that attempt to get you to spread falsehoods."

Jessica Gonzalez, co-chief executive officer at the nonpartisan group Free Press, said she was concerned that Twitter's content-moderation efforts could potentially slacken prior to the election, "when we know social media goes off the rails to misinform, intimidate and harm voters of color."

"Twitter was already a hellscape before Musk took over, and his actions... will only make it worse," said Gonzalez.

Yoel Roth, Twitter's head of safety and integrity, sought to soothe those concerns, saying the platform's front-line moderation staff were least impacted by the cuts and combating harmful misinformation during the midterms was a "top priority."

"While we said goodbye to incredibly talented friends and colleagues... our core moderation capabilities remain in place," Roth tweeted.

'Deeply troubling'

Free Press is part of a coalition of more than 60 civil society groups that on Friday called on advertisers to boycott the platform until it committed to being a "safe place."

Members of the coalition met with Musk earlier this week after academic studies reported a dramatic increase in hate speech, Nazi memes and racist slurs after his acquisition of the company.

One study by Montclair State University found that Twitter's acquisition by Musk, a self-professed free-speech absolutist, had "created the perception by extremist users that content restrictions would be alleviated."

"We met with Elon Musk earlier this week to express our profound concerns about some of his plans and the spike in toxic content after his acquisition," said the coalition, which uses the hashtag "Stop Toxic Twitter."

"Since that time, hate and disinformation have continued to proliferate, and Musk has taken actions that make us fear that the worst is yet to come," the group said in a statement.

But Musk rejected that assessment, tweeting that "we have actually seen hateful speech at times this week decline *below* our prior norms," though he offered up no data to back up this assertion.

"To be crystal clear, Twitter's strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged," Musk wrote on Friday.

Musk had promised to reduce Twitter's content restrictions, and since the acquisition has announced plans to create a "content moderation council" that will review company policies.

"While Musk has publicly committed to transparency, his decision to lay off the staff members dedicated to this work is deeply troubling," said Zeve Sanderson, executive director of the New York University's Center for Social Media and Politics.

Musk insisted that the layoffs were necessary as the company was losing more than US$4 million (RM18.99mil) per day.

Twitter has long struggled to generate profit and has failed to keep pace with Facebook, Instagram and TikTok in gaining new users. – AFP

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!
   

Next In Tech News

Musk now says it's 'pointless' to build a $25,000 Tesla for human drivers
Google defeats lawsuit over gift card fraud
Russian court fines Apple for not deleting two podcasts, RIA reports
GlobalFoundries forecasts upbeat Q4 results on strong demand from smartphone makers
Emerson sharpens automation focus with offer for rest of AspenTech in $15 billion deal
Palantir shares surge to record as AI boom powers forecast raise
Netflix under tax fraud investigation as offices in France and Netherlands raided
Singapore's Keppel to buy Japanese AI-ready data centre
Tesla increases wages for staff at German gigafactory by 4%
Apple explores push into smart glasses with ‘Atlas’ user study

Others Also Read