Brussels
Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter, has been branded a major hub for disseminating disinformation, in a warning issued by the European Union. The scathing description of the X coincides with the social media platform removing the ability for people to report a tweet containing misleading information in Australia.
It must be noted that disinformation is different from misinformation. Disinformation is false or misleading information, often disseminated by virtue of speculation or without the intent to spread fake information.
Misinformation is the intentional dissemination of false information to meet the intended goals of public outreach, often by means of paid accounts or social media accounts run by bots.
What is the disinformation threat?
It's the so-called Russia's "war of ideas".
European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova has urged social media platforms to take action against Russia's "war of ideas" in the wake of upcoming national and European elections.
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Jourova described this disinformation as a significant threat, affecting not only Russians but also Europeans and the global community.
But X is not the only one to have been flagged by the EU for purported spread of disinformation.
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The European Union has released reports assessing the efforts of major tech companies, such as Meta's Facebook, Alphabet's Google, and ByteDance's TikTok, in combating disinformation on their platforms.
Recently, Google terminated over 400 channels involved in Russian influence operations during the first four months of the year, while Meta expanded fact-checking partnerships across the EU in 22 languages.
Australia: X discontinues crucial feature to report posts with disinformation
Notably, X, the company previously known as Twitter, has removed the option for users to report tweets containing misleading information. This change occurred shortly before a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament in Australia.
Previously, users in various countries, including the US, Australia, and South Korea, could flag tweets they deemed misleading for review by the company.
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