Elon Musk, the proprietor of Twitter, has accused a BBC correspondent of falsehoods during an interview. They were in a dispute over whether instances of hate speech are on the rise on the social media platform. During the interview, US tech reporter James Clayton questioned Mr. Musk on how he intended to address assertions that Twitter lacks the necessary workforce to monitor the surge of offensive content.
However, when asked to provide examples of such content, Mr. Clayton declined to do so. As a result, Mr. Musk accused him of promoting a baseless accusation. During a broad-ranging conversation held at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, Elon Musk remarked that the social media giant had only ‘four months to live’ when he acquired the company.
He insisted that cost-cutting measures were necessary to avert bankruptcy and confirmed that around 80% of the workforce had been laid off since he assumed control in October of the previous year. Furthermore, Mr. Musk later tweeted that he had invited the BBC to visit Twitter. But was taken aback when a reporter arrived for an interview with only 20 minutes notice. He also characterized the discussion as ‘probing and challenging.’
“You just lied” – Elon Musk
During the conversation, journalist James Clayton asked Elon Musk if he planned to address the issue of insufficient staff to moderate hateful content on Twitter. In response, Mr. Musk questioned the existence of such content, asking for specific examples.
Mr. Clayton mentioned that he personally receives some content that is slightly racist or sexist. But clarified that he couldn’t speak for the rest of Twitter users. Mr. Musk then asked for a specific example of hateful content. But Mr. Clayton couldn’t provide one and admitted that he no longer uses the Twitter feed.
Elon Musk accused Mr. Clayton of lying after he was unable to provide any examples of hateful content on Twitter. Despite claiming that it was on the rise. However, Mr. Clayton cited various organizations such as the Institute for Strategic Dialogue that have stated that hateful posts on Twitter are increasing. When contacted, a BBC spokesperson declined to comment on Mr. Musk’s accusations that Mr. Clayton lied.
Praised for his efforts, Elon Musk wasn’t holding back on Twitter
Elon Musk recently retweeted a post from user @TexasLindsay_ that praised him for shutting down a “pro-censorship” BBC reporter during their interview. Which left him struggling to justify his questions on misinformation and hate speech. In his tweet, Mr. Musk remarked that the discussion was “penetrating deep & hard with @BBC.” He also expressed surprise that a reporter had shown up for the interview at all. Despite previously inviting the BBC to Twitter.
Moreover, Mr. Musk retweeted a meme from user @__SeriousGemini. Which displayed two buttons labeled ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Aptly placed above an image of a sweating man purportedly representing the BBC. The meme’s caption read, ‘Do you like BBC?’.
During the interview, Mr. Musk stated that the social media company was previously ‘spending money like it’s out of fashion,’ until he intervened. When asked if his approach to staff layoffs was ‘haphazard and uncaring,’ Mr. Musk denied this. Replying: ‘I wouldn’t say it was uncaring.’
Read: Elon Musk Reverses Life Time Bans on Twitter. Will he be Welcoming Trump Back?
Defending his decision, Elon spoke freely about the staff layoffs
During the interview, Mr. Musk defended his decision to lay off around 80% of Twitter’s staff since he took over in October. Explaining that it was necessary to cut costs and save the company from bankruptcy. He revealed that Twitter had a negative cash flow situation of $3 billion. This gave the platform only four months to live. As a result, thousands of employees were let go. Leaving only around 1,500 staff members compared to almost 8,000 before Mr. Musk took over.
While Mr. Musk’s cost-cutting measures were criticized for being haphazard and uncaring, he argued that it was necessary to save the company. He said, “If the whole ship sinks, nobody has a job.” Despite shutting down one of Twitter’s service centers, which Mr. Musk admitted was “quite catastrophic.”
He claimed that Twitter was now “roughly breaking even” and could become profitable again soon. He added: “Depending on how things go, if current trends continue, I think we could be profitable, or to be more precise, cash flow positive this quarter if things keep going well. I think almost all advertisers have come back or said they are going to come back. There are very few exceptions.”
Advertisers initially pulled out
After acquiring Twitter, Mr Musk faced criticism from advertisers who were concerned about his approach to content moderation. As a response to this, he revealed that the legacy blue checkmarks would be removed from the platform by next week. These blue ticks had helped verify the identity of high-profile users, but would now only be available through the Twitter Blue subscription service for $8 per month.
Although the original deadline of April 1 had passed, the blue ticks remained in place until now. In addition, Mr Musk announced that the social media site will update the tag for the BBC’s “government-funded media” after the broadcaster objected to the label.
One thing we learned from Elon Musk
n the interview, Mr Musk initially stated that he would refuse an offer to buy Twitter for the same amount he paid for it, and that finding a buyer who values the “truth” would be more important to him than the price. However, he had previously tried to back out of the deal, raising doubts about his true motivation.
When Mr Musk acquired Twitter, he claimed it had only a few months to live and was being managed like a non-profit. Twitter’s expenses exceeded its revenue, with only two profitable years since 2012. Following the layoffs of 6,500 workers, Mr Musk believes Twitter is now close to breaking even. However, it remains to be seen whether this path to profitability is sustainable and whether Twitter can justify its $44bn price tag.
Mr Musk has also been exploring ways to increase revenue, such as by charging Twitter users for “blue tick” verification. This move caused many advertisers to pause their work with the site due to concerns about Mr Musk’s approach to content and moderation. Despite this, he plans to remove legacy blue ticks and update the BBC’s “government-funded media” tag.
Sources
- “Six things we learned from Elon Musk interview.” BBC. April 12, 2023
- “‘You don’t know what you are talking about’: Elon Musk DESTROYS ill-prepared BBC reporter in car-crash interview and accuses him of lying about Twitter hate speech ‘being on the rise’.” Daily Mail UK. Mark Duell. April 12, 2023