Twitter (TWTR) owner Elon Musk sat down with the BBC tech reporter James Clayton for an interview that appears to have turned into a catfight on Wednesday, April 12.
In the interview, Clayton attempts to address the reported rise in hate speech on Twitter since Musk took the helm, saying, "we’ve spoken to people very recently who were involved in moderation and they just say [that] there’s not enough people to police this stuff, particularly around hate speech in the company."
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Musk diverts away from moderation staffing concerns and demands examples. “What hate speech are you talking about? I mean, you use Twitter, right? Do you see a rise in hate speech? Just a personal anecdote, do you? I don’t.”
When Clayton says yes, and that he sees “more hateful content” in his “For You” feed, Elon asks “Content you don’t like, what do you mean, describe a hateful thing?”
Clayton defines it loosely, citing posts that are “slightly racist” or “slightly sexist”. In response, Musk asks, “So you think if something is slightly sexist, it should be banned?” After this point, the interview does a few circles as both participants become more agitated.
But Musk’s move to turn the conversation to the BBC is what had viewers in awe. When Clayton asks about Twitter’s changes to covid19 misinformation policies, Musk turns the question around on the reporter, asking Clayton to explain the BBC’s “misinformation about covid”.
“Does the BBC hold off at all responsible for misinformation regarding masking and side effects of vaccinations and not reporting that?” Musk asked.
“This is not an interview about the BBC,” responds Clayton. “I am not a representative of the BBC editorial policy.”
Social media loved the interview and were quick to make memes about the clash.
The interview went live over Twitter Spaces and will be aired on the BBC later this evening in the U.K. and the following day in the U.S. If any questions about Twitter were actually answered, no clip of that discourse has surfaced yet.
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