Biden says Musk bought platform that ‘spews lies all across the world’
White House says US president feels strongly about importance of social media sites, including Twitter, taking ‘steps to reduce hate speech and misinformation’
US President Joe Biden criticized new Twitter owner Elon Musk for his $44 billion purchase last week of a platform that “sends and spews lies all across the world.”
“Elon Musk […] goes out and buys an outfit that sends and spews lies all across the world,” Biden said at a campaign event in Illinois Friday night where he addressed the importance of the midterm elections on Tuesday. “How do we expect kids to be able to understand what is at stake?” he said.
The White House said Friday that Biden has been “outspoken about the importance of social media platforms continuing to take steps to reduce hate speech and misinformation.”
“That belief extends to Twitter, it extends to Facebook and any other social media platforms where users can spread misinformation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has called on all advertisers to suspend their relationship with Twitter, and offered a harsh critique of Musk’s leadership so far.
The Stop Hate For Profit coalition, a group of civil rights organizations that includes the ADL, said in a statement that since meeting Musk this week to discuss the uptick in tweets containing hate speech, racial slurs, antisemitism, extremism, and disinformation since he took the helm at Twitter last week, “hate and disinformation have proliferated” and Musk “has taken actions that make us fear that the worst is yet to come.”
Musk on Friday laid off about half of Twitter’s 7,500-strong staff, including many working on content moderation capabilities.
Musk said last week he won’t make major decisions about content or restoring banned accounts before setting up a “content moderation council” with diverse viewpoints. He reiterated that point on Wednesday at the meeting with civil rights organizations, adding the council he’s assembling will include “the civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence.”
Musk took control of Twitter last week.
