| Friend,
Twitter’s mishandling of the platform in the aftermath of Hamas’ attack in October and Israel’s subsequent military response marks a new low. We at Free Press have covered this trainwreck of a platform since Elon Musk took over nearly a year ago: to say that he has failed in such a pivotal and sensitive moment is a colossal understatement.
The platform’s algorithms have boosted violent and disturbing images — some real, some faked — and disinformation about the conflict has spread rapidly. Failure to moderate content inevitably leads to migration of platform lies to mainstream media. Already, news outlets like CNN, The Los Angeles Times1 and others are retracting poorly vetted coverage of stories that originated and went viral on social media. Our social and traditional media systems are failing us all.
That Twitter is now so inundated with graphic content and lies about the Middle East conflict is a natural result of Musk’s decision to lay off most of the company’s Trust and Safety team and gut the platform’s content-moderation rules. With few left at the company to vet questionable and violent content, posts are often left unchecked to spread like wildfire.
The Community Notes feature that allows platform users to provide context to controversial posts has been completely overwhelmed since Hamas’ attack. It’s gotten so bad that former Twitter insiders who watchdog the feature told Wired2 that Community Notes itself has become a vehicle for spreading lies about the conflict.
According to Free Press’ own analysis,3 “there is no sign that Twitter has implemented any content-moderation rules to specifically cope with this crisis nor brought back critical content moderators to mitigate the deluge of harmful posts.”
And while it’s not just Twitter — Meta4 and YouTube5 have also failed to adequately and swiftly remove disinformation about the conflict — Twitter continues to exemplify the disastrous human implications that come from abandoned platform-integrity commitments. The company’s downward spiral should serve as a wake-up call for other platforms.
Disinformation about the Israel-Hamas conflict is a horrific example of why we so desperately need better moderation and tech executives who put platform integrity — and saving lives — over their hunger for profits. The current conflict is a case in point and the reason Free Press and our allies have been calling for stronger vetting by platforms year round.
Whether it’s in times of crisis or calm, people should be able to rely on the social-media platforms they use to find accurate and even lifesaving information. Musk may not care enough to fix things, but it’s not too late for other tech platforms to do more to protect their users and promote peace.
Thanks for reading and staying informed,
Nora Benavidez
Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights
Free Press
freepress.net
P.S. Free Press has been working for years to make Twitter a safer place — and Musk’s failures in times of crisis only strengthen our resolve. We will continue to hold Twitter and other social-media platforms accountable for the proliferation of disinformation and hate. Support from people like you makes it easier for us to sustain our organizing. DONATE NOW
1. “Misinformation and Mayhem: The Hamas Invasion as Seen on Social Media,” The Los Angeles Times, Oct. 11, 2023 2. “Elon Musk’s Main Tool for Fighting Disinformation on X Is Making the Problem Worse, Insiders Claim,” WIRED, Oct. 17, 2023 3. “Social Media Platform Integrity Matters in Times of War,” Just Security, Oct. 13, 2023 4. “Fact Check: Video Shows Israel Striking Gaza Tower in 2021, Not 2023,” Reuters, Oct. 11, 2023 5. “Hamas Seeds Violent Videos on Sites With Little Moderation,” The New York Times, Oct. 10, 2023 |
