Elon Musk’s Safety Standards at X Are Helping to Spread Russian Propaganda, New Study Finds
Key takeaways
- X and other social media platforms are accused of allowing Russian misinformation to spread
- The EU study comes after the EU’s Digital Services Act came into force
- Social media companies face heavy penalties for allowing disinformation to spread under the new Act
Elon Musk’s X is in hot water again, along with the likes of Meta and Telegram, for allowing Russian propaganda to spread without many safeguards from the platforms in place. In the EU, these companies have to operate within the boundaries of the new Digital Services Act or face penalties — here’s the latest.
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What’s happening with X?
A new European Commission study has found that changes made by Elon Musk on the X (formerly known as Twitter) platform are partly to blame for increased Russian propaganda on the forum.
The year-long study, carried out by a non-profit analysis group on behalf of the EU, concluded that the “reach and influence of Kremlin-backed accounts has grown further in the first half of 2023, driven in particular by the dismantling of Twitter’s safety standards”. Couldn’t get more explicit than that.
Twitter used to have a policy for labelling and deprioritizing Kremlin-affiliated accounts spewing propaganda, but new owner Elon Musk dropped the policy back in April.
It wasn’t just X in the firing line — the study also found Telegram and Meta, which owns Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook, also didn’t have enough in place to stem a tidal wave of Russian disinformation campaigns.
What happens next?
It’s possible the European Union could take X to court over the spread of misinformation under the Digital Services Act that took effect last month. The EU study noted that the company would have already violated the rules had they been in effect last year, so future litigation isn’t off the table.
In fact, it’s downright likely. The European Commissioner for Internal Markets, Thierry Breton, visited X’s headquarters in June and warned that the company had a long way to go before it complied with the new Digital Services Act.
As part of the Digital Services Act, social media companies operating in the EU must assess the risk of false information, subject themselves to regular audits and actively shield the worst misinformation from being amplified. In short, the EU really isn’t messing around when it comes to Big Tech’s influence.
The bottom line
Social media has long been a beacon of misinformation, but it doesn’t help when company owners are actively weakening safety standards in the name of free speech. Under the new Digital Services Act, Big Tech will have to up its game if it wants to stay on the right side of the law.
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