27-9-2023 (SYDNEY) Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter, has taken a controversial step by disabling a feature that allowed users to report misinformation related to elections, according to a report by the research organization Reset.Tech Australia. This decision has sparked fresh concerns regarding the dissemination of false claims, particularly in the lead-up to major elections in the United States and Australia.
In 2022, X introduced a feature that permitted users to report posts they deemed misleading with regard to politics. However, in the past week, X removed the “politics” category from its drop-down menu in all regions except the European Union, as reported by Reset.Tech Australia.
Despite this move, users can still report various other issues, such as content promoting violence or hate speech, to X on a global scale. At the time of the report, X had not issued any official comments regarding this development.
The decision to remove the option for reporting political misinformation raises concerns about the ability to combat false information at a critical juncture when social media platforms are under increasing pressure to address concerns related to electoral integrity, which has been a growing issue in recent years.
This development comes less than three weeks before Australia is scheduled to hold a significant referendum, the first of its kind in a quarter of a century, to determine whether to amend the constitution in order to establish an Indigenous advisory body to parliament. It also comes approximately 14 months ahead of the next U.S. presidential election.
Alice Dawkins, the executive director of Reset.Tech Australia, expressed her concerns about this decision, stating, “It would be helpful to understand why X has seemingly regressed on their commitment to mitigating the kind of serious misinformation that has translated into real political instability in the US, especially on the eve of the ‘bumper year’ of elections globally.”
In a letter addressed to X’s managing director for Australia, Angus Keene, Reset.Tech Australia argued that this change could potentially result in content violating X’s own policy against electoral misinformation going unchecked without an appropriate review process. The letter, which was published online, strongly expressed concern about Australians losing the ability to report serious misinformation just weeks before a pivotal referendum.
It’s worth noting that since billionaire Elon Musk took Twitter (known by that name at the time) private in late 2022, the company, which subsequently downsized its workforce, has faced allegations of permitting the proliferation of antisemitism, hate speech, and misinformation.
A previous report by Reuters highlighted findings from Reset.Tech Australia, which revealed that X failed to remove or label a single post containing misinformation about the Australian referendum during a three-week period, even after it was reported using the now-disabled feature.
Elon Musk has suggested that X’s “Community Notes” feature, which allows users to comment on posts to flag false or misleading content, provides a better way of fact-checking. However, these notes are only made public when they receive a positive rating from a variety of contributors with diverse perspectives, according to X’s website.
In June, Australia’s internet safety regulator wrote to X, demanding an explanation for the surge in hate speech on the platform, noting that approximately 62,000 high-profile accounts, associated with individuals promoting Nazi rhetoric, had been reinstated.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), responsible for overseeing the upcoming October 14 referendum, has described the spread of electoral misinformation as the most severe it has encountered. The commission stated that, despite the feature’s disabling, it can still report posts containing political misinformation directly to X. For other users seeking information or with questions, the AEC remains available for assistance.
