Even powerful entrepreneur Elon Musk faces the iron hand of content control on his own social media network. According to reports, X, formerly known as Twitter, erased a tweet that Musk reshared this week because it violated the platform’s rules.
The billionaire responded to an NBC article on the violence that has swept throughout Haiti and the country’s ongoing humanitarian catastrophe. The article especially mentioned posts by Musk and conservative figures spreading unproven accusations about cannibalistic gangs in Haiti.
In reaction to the article, Musk wrote, “What do you call this?” He then sent a link to an image that appeared to depict cannibalism in Haiti, according to Bloomberg. After seeing Musk’s tweet, Business Insider was unable to confirm what was in the video clip, which X took down from the platform along with a notice saying it went against the “X Rules.”
Concerning the rumors of cannibalism in Haiti, a US State Department spokesperson told Business Insider that the agency has not “received any credible reports regarding this claim.” The spokesperson further advised people to “seek fact-based verification of sensational claims from credible sources before sharing on social media.”
The story of cannibalism in Haiti has persisted on X despite the absence of reliable proof. Instead of being proof of widespread cannibalistic behavior, the movies being shared—some of which are years old—were probably made by violent gangs as a fear tactic to frighten communities, according to NBC News.
Musk connected the allegations to worries about the immigration of Haitians to the US.
Musk commented, “If wanting to screen immigrants for potential homicidal tendencies and cannibalism makes me ‘right wing,’ then I would gladly accept such a label!” in response to a remark made by right-wing figure Ian Miles Cheong. If we didn’t, innocent Americans would be killed.”
Musk, who describes himself as a “free speech absolutist,” fired hundreds of employees who worked in content control when he took over Twitter in 2022 and rebranded it as X.
According to statistics from the Network Contagion Research Institute, reports of the N-word being used on the platform increased by around 500% shortly after Musk took over. And just as experts warned, hate speech and misinformation have been a problem on the platform ever since.