Six things the BBC learned from an interview with Elon Musk

Musk claims that his efforts to delete bots, automated accounts, have reduced misinformation on Twitter

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Photo: BBC
Photo: BBC
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

During an interview with the BBC, Elon Musk justified the way he manages Twitter, during a one-hour interview with James Clayton, the BBC's technology reporter.

Here are six things we learned from an interview with the world's second-richest man at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco.

1. He denies that hate speech on Twitter is on the rise

Musk does not want to accept that there has been more and more hate speech on the social network since he bought it.

The company is no longer able to protect users from trolling, state-coordinated disinformation and sexual exploitation of children, after the dismissal of a part of employees and changes under a new owner, claimed Twitter employees during an interview with the BBC.

In March, Twitter announced that it had removed 400.000 accounts in just one month to make "Twitter safer."

To fully assess Musk's claims, two things are needed right now - access to Twitter's pre- and post-takeover data and, crucially, a clear understanding of how it defines misinformation and hate speech.

There is no general definition of hate speech under US law, which is generally much more lenient than other countries because of the First Amendment to the US Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech.

2. He voted for Joseph Biden

Almost half of adult Americans voted for Trump in the last US election, Musk said, but added: "I was not one of them. I voted for Biden."

In the second part of the interview, he justified the reinstatement of Trump's account, which was removed in 2021 when the platform accused him of inciting violence.

3. Claims that Twitter defeats bots that spew falsehoods

Musk claims that his efforts to delete bots, automated accounts, have reduced misinformation on Twitter.

"There is less misinformation than before," he told a BBC reporter.

Experts disagree.

In a study by Newsguard, which tracks disinformation on the networks, and there are other studies on this topic, it is stated that communication on popular accounts that spread misinformation increased when Musk took over Twitter.

The number of likes and retweets increased by almost 60 percent during the first week after buying Twitter.

The BBC analyzed more than 1.000 previously banned accounts that had been reinstated on Twitter and found that since they were reinstated, more than a third of them had spread hate or misinformation.

False claims against anti-covid vaccines, misogyny, hatred of LGBT+ people and non-acceptance of the official results of the 2020 US election are just some of the topics that appeared on these accounts.

Watch the video: Twitter and Serbia - Where do deleted accounts go?

4. It is an opponent of Tiktok

Musk says he doesn't use one of the most downloaded apps in the US, but opposes any move to ban it.

A ban is being considered in the US due to security concerns over TikTok's Chinese ownership.

Other countries in the world have banned the installation of the application on the phones of civil servants.

"I'm generally against banning things," Musk said, though he says a ban would benefit Twitter because it could mean more people spend time on its platform.

5. He would reject a $44 billion offer to sell Twitter

Elon Musk bought Twitter for 44 billion dollars, but, he claims, he would refuse an offer to sell it for the same amount.

But is it true?

Musk desperately tried to back out of the contract.

He said Twitter had only a few months left to live when he took over and was run as if it were a non-profit.

Twitter's expenses exceeded its revenue.

In the last full-year results released before Musk took over the company, total sales hit $2021 billion in 5,5, but costs and expenses hit $XNUMX billion.

In fact, the company has only had two profitable years since 2012.

Musk believes that Twitter is now close to complete profitability.

No wonder - laying off 6.500 workers tends to cut costs.

But he was also proactive in finding ways to increase revenue, such as changing the verification method of "blue tag" Twitter users which is now charged.

So yes, Twitter could be profitable even now due to drastic cost reductions.

But the question is whether he can maintain that path to profitability and make the company worth that $44 billion.

6. It will abandon its intention to label the BBC as a government-funded media outlet

After last week's dispute, Musk confirmed that he would change the BBC's Twitter handle from "government funded" to "publicly funded".

The BBC objected to Twitter's decision, stressing the corporation's independence as it is funded mainly through subscription TV.

In an interview with the BBC, Musk said: "If we use the same words that the BBC uses to describe itself, that would probably be fine."

The license fee made up about 71 percent of the BBC's total revenue of £5,3 billion (about six billion euros) in 2022, with the rest coming from commercial and other activities such as grants, royalties and rental income.

The BBC also receives more than £90m (more than €100m) a year from the government to support the BBC World Service, which is aimed at audiences outside the UK.

Watch the video: What are fake profiles and how to spot them

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