In case he needed another crown. The European Union (EU) has lashed out at Elon Musk and his social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), calling it “the worst platform for misinformation”, calling it “the king of misinformation”.
This statement comes from Vera Jourová, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, who highlighted the platform’s lack of effective measures to combat disinformation.
As it explains 3D Games, the EU has been engaged in the fight against disinformation and has worked with tech giants such as Google, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok to combat the spread of fake news online. However, X has not been part of these efforts, which has led to criticism from European authorities.
Another stain for Musk’s management
The pilot phase carried out by the EU sought to evaluate the amount of disinformation present on various online platforms. The results revealed that X stood out negatively by allowing the spread of fake news and providing disinformation spreaders with a significant audience.
Additionally, the platform removed a feature that allowed users to report election-related misinformation, sparking even more concern.
Jourová emphasized that Misinformation is not a new problem and it is not limited to online platforms, but noted that digitalization has allowed malicious actors to find new ways to undermine democracy. As a result, the EU has urged Elon Musk and X to review their policies to effectively tackle disinformation and contribute to the fight against this global problem.
The EU’s criticism of X and his label as “the king of disinformation” reflects the authorities’ growing concern about the influence of social networks on the spread of fake news and the need to take more effective measures to combat this phenomenon.