Watch: Elon Musk’s surprise BBC interview… in 90 seconds
Elon Musk has defended the way he runs Twitter in a rare and wide-ranging interview with the BBC.
The world’s second-richest man was questioned by BBC technology reporter James Clayton for nearly an hour at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.
Here are six things we learned.
1. He denies that hate speech on Twitter has spiked
Mr. Musk refuses to accept that there is more hateful content on the platform since he took over.
Speaking to BBC earlier this yearSome on Twitter have argued that the company is no longer able to protect users from state-directed misinformation and child sexual exploitation, following waves of layoffs and changes under its owner. owner, Mr. Musk.
In March, Twitter said it had removed 400,000 accounts in just one month to help “make Twitter safer”.
To fully appreciate Mr. Musk’s claims, you need two things that we don’t currently have – access to Twitter data before and after his takeover, and it’s important to understand how. he defines disinformation and hate speech.
There is no universal definition of hate speech under US law, which is often much more permissive than in other countries due to the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
2. He voted for Joe Biden
Nearly half the country voted for Mr. Trump in the last US election, Mr. Musk said, but he added: “I’m not one of them. I voted for Biden.”
In another part of the interview, he defended the end of the Twitter ban on Mr. Trump, which was removed in 2021 when the platform accused him of inciting violence.
3. He says Twitter is beating bots in the fight against misinformation
Mr Musk claims the effort to remove bots – automated accounts – has reduced misinformation on Twitter after he took over.
“My experience is that there is less misinformation there,” he told our reporter.
Some outside experts disagree. ONE Research from Newsguard Online disinformation trackers – and quite a few other studies in the same direction – have found that engagement with popular accounts that spread misinformation spiked after Mr. Musk take over.
In the week following the Twitter acquisition, the most popular, most untrusted accounts experienced a nearly 60% increase in engagement in the form of likes and retweets, according to the survey.
BBC also analyzed independently More than 1,000 previously banned accounts were re-enabled on Twitter after Mr. Musk took over and discovered that since reinstatement, more than a third of them had spread misinformation. or abuse.
This includes false anti-vax statements, misogynistic and anti-LGBT claims, and denial of the 2020 US election results.
4. He opposes banning TikTok
Musk said he doesn’t use the most downloaded app in the US but he opposes any move to shut it down.
The US is considering a ban due to security concerns over China’s ownership of TikTok. Several other countries have banned it from government employees’ phones.
“I’m generally opposed to banning everything,” Musk said, though he said the ban would benefit Twitter because it would mean more people spending time on his platform.
5. He will turn down $44 billion for Twitter
Elon Musk stated that if someone offered to buy Twitter for the money he paid for it, he would refuse. But is that true? Remember, Musk desperately tried to back out of the deal.
Musk claims Twitter has only a few months left to live when he takes over and is being run as a nonprofit.
Twitter’s costs far outstrip the revenue it generates. In the most recent full-year results released prior to Musk’s takeover, total revenue reached $5 billion in 2021 but costs and expenses amounted to $5.5 billion. In fact, it has only had two profitable years since 2012.
Musk thinks Twitter is now close to breaking even. No wonder – laying off 6,500 workers tends to lower one’s costs.
But he’s also actively sought to increase sales through things like changing Twitter users to verify “green marks.”
So yes, Twitter may be close to breaking even because of aggressive cost-cutting. But the question is whether it can sustain that path to profitability and make the company worth $44 billion.
6. He will reject the way the BBC is labeled
Musk confirmed he would change the BBC’s Twitter label from “government-sponsored” to “publicly funded” following last week’s controversy.
The BBC objected to the original description, which emphasized the independence of the corporation. It is primarily funded by the British public through television rights fees.
In Wednesday’s interview, Musk said: “If we were to use the same words the BBC uses to describe itself, that would probably be fine.”
License fees account for around 71% of the BBC’s total income of £5.3 billion in 2022 – the rest comes from commercial activities and other activities such as subsidies, royalties and rental income.
The BBC also receives more than £90 million a year from the government to support the BBC World Service, which mainly serves a non-British audience.
Report by fact-checking team, BBC Monitoring and Dearbail Jordan, business reporter
