Dark Secrets Behind Elon Musks ‘New Twitter’

1. Elon Musk overtakes Twitter

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When Elon Musk announced he'd be taking over Twitter, users were left with a lot of questions and uncertainty. Billionaire Elon was an active user on Twitter and spent $44 billion to take over the social media platform. As soon as he took over, he fired the top leaders at Twitter and half of the company's staff. His future plans for the platform are unclear.

2. He did make one thing clear

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Bloomberg

From the outset, as soon as Elon Musk took over Twitter, he started talking about ending content moderation. He said this was his main motivation for purchasing the company when the whole fiasco was first announced and as he started speaking about it more publicly.

3. A lot of people weren't happy about it

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Social media has become a career industry for many. It's used for so many things besides just putting out 140 characters of what you're having for dinner. This content moderation attempt felt narrow-minded. It was focused on taking down controversial claims and removing accounts, while also cracking down on spam and bots. It seemed as if he hated the platform that he purchased.

4. Content moderation is more complicated than that

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When successful, content moderation needs an expansive system of people, practices, and policies. There are legal mandates from country to country and needs to be carried out in a way that encourages the widest audience possible. At the same time it has to reduce the risk of harm to the user. This is an ever-changing system that is a combination of automation tools and human judgment.

5. Freedom of speech doesn't always work

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Twitter overhauled its content moderation policies after the Trump election. They put a trust and safety team in place, in an effort to generate healthy conversations on the platform. When Trump was banned from the platform, Twitter vowed to keep users who brought discord to the platform off of it. Two days after the January 6 insurrection, Trump was officially banned.

6. So Elon decided to make a HARD TURN

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Apparently, Elon Musk was so annoyed by this lack of freedom of speech, so that's what pushed him to purchase it. He felt Twitter was allowing too much government control and liberal media sway. Many conservatives were shadow-banned, and there was suppression of conversations around COVID-19. There were also politicians who were kicked off the platform without warning.

7. He started polarizing the Twitter population

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When Elon took over Twitter, he referred to the company as a crime scene. He said he was going to start exposing Twitter's darkest secrets. This received a lot of reaction from users, not knowing what to expect. Many praised him for bringing transparency to the platform. He said it was time to expose everyone!

8. He definitely got people's attention

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Elon Musk was similar to Trump in that he knew how to use the social media platform to make himself the center of conversation, at least for a while. He sent out a stream of irreverent tweets that violated the company's policies. Some loved it, some hated it, but he became the second most followed person on the site. He also said he wrote most of the tweets from the toilet.

9. People would be able to see their account status

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One of the things he said he was going to do to expose people was put out a new software that would show everyone's true account status. This was meant to help those who had been shadow-banned (their tweets don't perform as well because the algorithm doesn't favor them). He also said if you have been shadow-banned, you'd be provided a reason why and how to appeal it.

10. He released the "Twitter Files"

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Elon Musk also worked with a journalist named Matt Taibbi to publish "Twitter Files." This was a document that revealed internal communications explaining links to political figures. It also showed that there was a block on stories related to Hunter Biden's laptop around the time of the 2020 US Presidential election.

11. He wanted to reverse Trump's ban

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When Elon purchased Twitter, he changed his profile descriptor to "Chief Twit." He also said he would be reversing the ban on President Donald Trump. However, Trump made it clear that he wouldn't return to the platform. Trump started his own social media app called Truth Social and did not feel the need to return to Twitter.

12. Other countries were worried

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Many countries expressed concern at Elon's takeover. They issued warnings that the platform must still follow each region's Digital Services Act. If it dod not, this would result in MAJOR fines for Twitter. Many foreign leaders let their countries know that they would still be following their country's laws, and many looked into alternative options in case things went south.

13. He wants to create a super app

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Elon said that he wanted to use Twitter as a jumping off point for a super app he wants to create that does everything from money transfers to ride-shares. However, Twitter is still struggling to keep its active users engaged. There are many challenges to build revenue, and Elon has made it worse by starting out with controversy.

14. The "Twitter Files" may not be accurate

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It seems Elon is used the Twitter Files to stir up controversy. He said they prove that conservatives have been silenced on the platform, which of course, many Republicans believe, because they are convinced that they're being censored. However, the evidence from internal researchers shows the opposite. In fact, it's show that the algorithm favors right-leaning content.

15. In actuality, this is what they show

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Experts say that the files actually show emails and Slack messages where they're discussing company policies and the decision to ban Trump. Most interpret is as a display of Twitter executives and employees figuring out how to navigate major events like the insurrection and the policies and how they should be applied.

16. The former CEO apologized

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Former CEO, Jack Dorsey, was able to admit when the company made a mistake. There were conversations around Hunter Biden's laptop, and Twitter did cite the rules against sharing hacked information. Accounts who were sharing this information were temporarily suspended. This action received a lot of political backlash, to which the company reversed the decision.

17. He also chimed in after the "Twitter Files"

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Once the files were released, Jack did release a statement saying he continues to believe that there were no hidden agendas. He says the staff were working with the information they had in the best way they knew how. He, again, is quick to admit that mistakes were made, but he hopes that people learn from it.

18. Elon got rid of the trust and safety team

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When Elon took over the platform and made staff cuts, the trust and safety team took a major hit. This includes the teams that focus on non-English languages and propaganda operations backed by the state. The external Trust and Safety Council was also disbanded.

19. He's selective about who he's letting back on

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While he made a big deal about reinstating Trump, the accounts of neo-Nazis and white nationalists, he's been picky about people like Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist, and also Kanye West. So it's a little confusing what Elon considers free speech and what he feels he has the right to regulate.

20. Twitter was already pretty permissive

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Before Elon came in, for all intents and purposes, Twitter's moderation policy was already pretty permissive. It allows users to share consensual sexual content (as long as its adults being featured), where this isn't allowed on most other platforms. They were strict on areas like gratuitous violence, abuse of animals, self-harm and threats of violence.

21. Twitter needs human moderation

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People would probably be shocked and disgusted at what the human moderators have to see and sift through every single day. There are, unfortunately, so many users who want to upload content that would make most people's stomachs churn. Without this army of low-wage workers who deal with it, any every day user will be exposed to this content.

22. It's clear he doesn't know what he's doing

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While Elon Musk has obviously done well for himself, it's clear that he has no experience running a social media site or company. This has left many advertisers worried as well. If the platform lets anything go with an egotistical man at the helm, there's no saying where the boundaries will be drawn.

23. Here's an analogy

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Some have compared Elon Musk's Twitter overtake to that of him releasing a Tesla that has bad breaks as it's speeding down a road that doesn't have guardrails. However, Elon seems pretty oblivious and unbothered by anyone's criticism. His autopilot programming for Tesla has reportedly failed to recognize when there's a CHILD in its way. So this is not a new space for him.

24. We don't know the extent of the changes

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Elon has said that the moderation hasn't changed... yet. But he does plan to appoint a new council to replace Twitter's former moderation system. He has said that Twitter is losing upwards of $4 million a day, so we are curious to see what he plans to do and how he plans to put safeguards in place.

25. Hate speech SPIKED when Elon took over

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As we mentioned, as soon as Elon took over Twitter, he let go of a good majority of the staff, including the moderators. Studies show that within the first 12 hours of Elon's ownership of the platform, there was a major and visible spike in hate speech on the platform! Not good!

26. He tried to assuage people's fears

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Once this report was released about the spike in hate speech, Elon tried to back track saying that there would not be degradation to the site. he said it was not his intention to have the site be an unmoderated "hellscape." But many brands such as General Mills and Volkswagen paused their participation on the platform.

27. This was one of the first people he fired

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Vijaya Gadde was the head lawyer and policy chief for Twitter. She had a very important role of establishing and policing the site's rules. She has been in the public eye for fighting for users to have the right to post, and she was also at the forefront of getting Donald Trump banned from the platform after the attack on the Capitol. She was one of the first people Elon fired.

28. He just wants to free the bird

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When Elon took charge, he tweeted "the bird is free." This sent the internet into a frenzy. The head of content moderation, Yoel Roth, ended up resigning after Elon went on his firing spree. He did try to reassure people that the core principles remained in place. But the platform's future is still unclear.

29. He loves to block people

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Elon loves free speech, except for when it's speech against him. When confronted by someone about brand safety and suitability, he ended up not engaging in the conversation at all, but rather just blocking that person. He said he was not afraid to name and shame any brands that pulled their ads. He also blamed "activist" groups for the reason they were losing money.

30. It does provide us a good reminder

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If anything good comes from this entire situation, it's that it has made the public more aware of what to be looking for. Experts say that it's good and smart to ask for more insight for how these social media companies are operating. Social media literally has the power to shape public opinion, so asking questions about how they are moderated is important!