WASHINGTON, DC — New Twitter owner
Elon Musk tweeted an anti-LGBT conspiracy theory Sunday about what happened the
night US Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband was attacked, underscoring concerns
about the platform's future after he vowed it would not become a
"free-for-all hellscape".
اضافة اعلان
Musk, a self-declared "free speech
absolutist," was responding to former Democratic presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton, who had tweeted to draw a line between Republicans who promote
baseless conspiracy theories and the violent attack on Paul Pelosi in San
Francisco.
"There is a tiny possibility there
might be more to this story than meets the eye," Musk told Clinton,
attaching a link to the story, which is no longer accessible, by the
conservative Santa Monica Observer.
The weekly outlet has published other
conspiracy theories in the past, including that a body double for Clinton was
sent to a debate with Donald Trump during the 2016 election campaign, according
to the Los Angeles Times.
Musk's tweet swiftly became a focal point
for critics who have been nervous about the direction in which he intends to
take Twitter, the leading platform for global discourse and diplomacy.
Musk, whose outspoken and controversial
tweets have courted trouble in the past, has vowed to dial back content
moderation, relying more on computer algorithms than human monitors.
Conservatives say past moderation has unfairly targeted their views.
In a message meant to reassure jittery
Twitter advertisers on his leadership, Musk said earlier this week that he
realizes Twitter "cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything
can be said with no consequences."
But detractors warn that without standards,
the world's "digital town square" is at risk of becoming flooded with
misinformation, with possibly perilous consequences for democracy and public
health.
"Clinton: Conspiracy theories are
getting people killed and we shouldn't amplify them. Owner of Twitter: But have
you considered this conspiracy theory?" wrote University of Denver
political scientist Seth Masket after Musk's Sunday tweet.
Masket later tweeted a screenshot suggesting
he had complained to Twitter about Musk's tweet, adding: "Somehow I doubt
much will come of this."
Troll campaign tests Musk
Nancy Pelosi, who is second in line to the
US presidency, has said her family is "heartbroken and traumatized"
after the intruder broke into the couple's San Francisco home early Friday and
attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer, fracturing his skull.
The 82-year-old is recovering in
hospital.
President Joe Biden has said it appears the
assault was "intended for Nancy," and called out increasingly
polarizing political rhetoric.
"The Republican Party and its
mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories. It is
shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result," Clinton said
in her tweet.
Musk's response came just hours after
Twitter said that the site was being targeted by a trolling campaign testing
its moderation policies under the billionaire's leadership.
"Twitter's policies haven't changed ...
And we're taking steps to put a stop to an organized effort to make people
think we have," tweeted the platform's chief of safety and integrity, Yoel
Roth.
Roth said that a "small number of
accounts" had posted "a ton" of hate content — including 50,000
tweets using a particular slur made by just 300 accounts.
"Nearly all" of the accounts are
inauthentic, he said.
Roth also retweeted a Musk post in which the
Tesla chief reiterated that "we have not yet made any changes to Twitter's
content moderation policies."
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