X.com is not letting anyone critize its content moderation practices.
The newly rebranded social media platform recently sued a nonprofit group monitoring hate speech for stating that the company is full of harmful content in its recent report.
The app, previously known as Twitter, has had problems with content moderation in the past since Elon Musk took over the company in Nov. 2022.
The new Twitter logo rebranded as X, is pictured in Paris on July 24, 2023, on the account of it's owner Elon Musk, after he changed his profile picture late on July 23, 2023, to the company's new logo, which he described as "minimalist art deco," and updated his Twitter bio to "X.com," which now redirects to twitter.com.
A Matter Of Content Moderation
X.com, formerly known as Twitter, is in a bit of a pickle, as far as its content moderation is concerned. The company claims that The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) is illegally scraping its servers for data and cherry-picking "objectionable posts" as part of a scare campaign to drive away advertisers, per Bloomberg.
The CCDH's report about the website found that X.com took no action against 99% of 100 Twitter Blue accounts posting hateful content in July These hateful content include posts containing racist, homophobic, neo-Nazi, antisemitic, or conspiracy content.
The one time X.com acted against a verified user who broke its content moderation rules, the offending user's account remained active.
This neglect, according to the CCDH, suggests that the platform is allowing its verified users to break its rules with impunity; it even boosts such content algorithmically. The nonprofit group found this conclusion unsurprising - its previous studies found that X.com failed to act on 89% and 97% of posts about anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate, respectively.
The CCDH's study raised concerns about X.com's verified users getting away with tweeting hateful content and having their tweets boosted, thanks to their verified status.
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X.com initially gave the CCDH a warning about its report, saying it would sue the nonprofit group over its allegations of "misleading claims" about it, per The Hill. The CCDH replied with a letter to Alex Spiro, an attorney representing Musk, cautioning the company against "any further attempts ... to threaten or intimidate our clients."
The letter also included a request - that X.com should "preserve all documents and other information" related to disinformation and hate speech on the platform.
The CCDH called Spiro's letter calling its report "false, misleading, or both" ridiculous, resulting in the company doubling down on the research its report is based on. The nonprofit group's executive officer, Imran Ahmed, stated that Musk's threats (and subsequent lawsuit) were an attempt to silence criticism so he can cover up critical studies and rebuild his relationship with advertisers.
X.com's Trouble With Advertisers
Ahmed's statement rings true, especially given recent events. You may recall that the company predicted that it would see its ad sales continue to decline despite Musk's claims to the contrary.
Musk claimed that almost all of its advertisers have returned after the boycott against it in late 2022. This boycott resulted in an exodus of advertisers leaving Twitter due to content moderation issues that sprung out when Musk took over the company.
Since then, Musk has been trying to rebuild his relationship with advertisers to entice them back into placing their ads on the platform again. His hiring of Linda Yaccarino as his replacement as CEO is proof of that.
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