Elon Musk's Twitter Acquisition Could Fuel Disinformation Ahead Of US Midterm Elections

Part-time elections in the US could be affected by disinformation on Twitter. (photo: Doc. Pixabay)

JAKARTA – Political roots and the media consider that there is a schedule for midterm elections in the U.S. Less than two weeks away, Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition of Twitter could unleash a new wave of election misinformation as voters cast ballots that will determine control of Congress.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc, said he was an "absolute" freedom of speech and has vowed to relax chat controls in the social media app, which in recent years has sought to limit "toxic" content deemed harmful or fake, discriminatory even as its global influence continues. has expanded.

Musk attempted to address those fears on Thursday, October 27 by telling Twitter advertisers that the platform "can't be a free-for-all hell scene, where anything can be said without consequences!" On Friday, October 28, Musk also announced he would form a "content moderation board with very diverse perspectives."

But Musk has voiced skepticism about the site's permanent ban on figures like former President Donald Trump, who lost his account and nearly 90 million followers. Trump is alleged to have used his account to falsely assert that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Musk has also criticized the site's moderation policies in the past, and his plans for sweeping staff cuts could cripple the site's ability to monitor its content, which has sometimes been difficult in the past.

How much more loosely moderated Twitter will have on political discourse in the run-up to the November 8 general election is unclear. Early voting has already begun in a number of states, and opinion polls show most voters have already made up their minds.

A more permissive Twitter could help amplify the false narrative around the primary election results in the days after November 8 if some candidates refuse to accept the results and call for fraud out of some fears it might occur.

Republicans say many social media platforms are biased against them, and many conservative Twitter accounts, including Republican politicians, on Friday welcomed Musk's takeover of Twitter. Democrats fear that Trump supporters will promote far-right views or false claims of election fraud on Twitter if allowed.

The site has been a major political tool for years, offering politicians and activists around the world the ability to reach millions of people with largely unfiltered rhetoric. Twitter has been instrumental in organizing mass campaigns, including the #MeToo movement targeting sexual misconduct and the Arab Spring protests in the Middle East.

However, critics have warned that the site has also helped spread misinformation, inaccurate or misleading information, and disinformation, i.e. information that is intentionally false. Such information can undermine democratic principles and offer avenues for foreign actors to interfere.

"(Musk's acquisition) could certainly create a much larger pathway for disinformation agencies to spread malicious information on the platform," said Yosef Getachew, director of media and democracy programs at Common Cause, a nonpartisan public interest organization.

"Content moderation policies are only effective if there are people there to enforce them and the systems in place to ensure they are enforced. If those rules don't apply, it will be very dangerous," Getachew said.

Polls suggest the Democrats may be on the verge of losing their slim majority in Congress on November 8.