Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk acknowledged on Wednesday that before his takeover, the “obvious reality” was that Twitter “has interfered in elections” through its content moderation policies. Mr. Musk did not identify the specific elections he thought were affected by the social media platform’s failures when he condemned his predecessors in a reply to a person who said Twitter has lost people’s trust.
“The obvious reality, as long-time users know, is that Twitter has failed in trust and safety for a very long time and has interfered in elections,” Mr. Musk wrote. “Twitter 2.0 will be far more effective, transparent, and even-handed.”
For years, Republicans and Democrats have claimed that social media platforms enabled foreign meddling in American politics. Republicans, for example, point to Twitter’s decision before the 2020 election to limit the distribution of news reports about President Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s embarrassing behavior and suspicious business deals.
Twitter’s censorship of the Post’s story also included blocking anyone with a large Twitter following from sharing it, CP reported in October 2020. The platform went so far as to lock the personal account of White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany after she shared the article.
Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who shared the article were also blocked on the platform. In response, the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, who later confirmed the censorship and said it was “wrong” to block the story from being shared.
Since Musk’s takeover, several high-profile accounts have been reinstated by Twitter, including former President Donald Trump, The Babylon Bee, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Kathy Griffin, and Project Veritas, among others. CP, which had its account suspended in March after publishing a headline that described transgender Health and Human Services Secretary Rachel Levine as a man, has not yet been reinstated.
Since Musk has, according to Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., pledged to make Twitter a place “where a wide range of beliefs can be debated healthily,” GOP members hope Twitter’s new leader will be more cooperative with their efforts.
Musk has previously stated that his desire to own the social media giant stems from his criticism of Twitter’s free speech practices. The billionaire has been a vocal critic of Twitter’s perceived flaws when it comes to free speech.
