WASHINGTON: Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk has pledged the platform will not devolve into a “free-for-all hellscape,” but experts warn that mass layoffs may deeply impair the social network’s ability to curb misinformation.

Twitter fired roughly half of its 7,500-strong workforce, only days before next week’s midterm elections in the United States, when a spike in fake content is expected across social media. The cuts, which comes after Musk’s blockbuster $44 million buyout of the company, hit multiple divisions, including trust and safety teams that manage content moderation as well as engineering and machine learning, US reports said.

“I would be real careful on this platform in the coming days... about what you retweet, who you follow, and even your own sense of what’s going on,” said Kate Starbird, a disinformation researcher and assistant professor at the University of Washington.

Starbird warned in her own Twitter post of an increased risk of “impersonation” attempts, “coordinated disinformation by manipulators” and “hoaxes that attempt to get you to spread falsehoods.”

Biden says social media platform spews lies across the world

‘Deeply troubling’

Free Press is part of a coalition of more than 60 civil society groups that on Friday called on advertisers to boycott the platform until it committed to being a “safe place.” Members of the coalition met with Musk earlier this week after academic studies reported a dramatic increase in hate speech, Nazi memes and racist slurs after his acquisition of the company.

One study by Montclair State University found that Musk’s purchase had “created the perception by extremist users that content restrictions would be alleviated.” “Wemet with Elon Musk earlier this week to express our profound concerns about some of his plans and the spike in toxic content after his acquisition,” said the coalition, which uses the hashtag “Stop Toxic Twitter.”

Musk insisted that the layoffs were necessary as the company was losing more than $4 million per day. Twitter has long struggled to generate profit and has failed to keep pace with Facebook, Instagram and TikTok in gaining new users.

Twitter spews lies

US President Joe Biden said that Elon Musk had purchased a social media platform in Twitter that spews lies across the world. Biden said at a fundraiser: “And now what are we all worried about: Elon Musk goes out and buys an outfit that sends — that spews lies all across the world... Theres no editors anymore in America. Theres no editors. How do we expect kids to be able to understand what is at stake?” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier that Biden had been clear about the need to reduce hate speech and misinformation.

“That belief extends to Twitter, it extends to Facebook and any other social media platforms where users can spread misinformation,” she said. Musk has promised to restore free speech while preventing Twitter from descending into a “hellscape.” But major advertisers have expressed apprehension about his takeover for months.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2022