Biden calls out Musk for buying Twitter, ‘an outfit that sends and spews lies’

US President Joe Biden on Friday called out Elon Musk for buying Twitter, “an outfit that sends and spews lies all across the world.” Musk completed the acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion last month.

Speaking at a fundraiser in Rosemont, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, Biden said, “Now what are we all worried about? Elon Musk goes out and buys an outfit that sends and spews lies all across the world.”

“There are no editors anymore. How do we expect kids to be able to understand what is at stake?” he added.

Biden “outspoken about importance of social media”

Reports of a surge in racist comments and hate speech on Twitter followed on the heels of the acquisition. Several major advertisers have reportedly paused campaigns on Twitter.

However, Musk has denied the allegations. He tweeted on Friday that “Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged.”

Again, to be crystal clear, Twitter’s strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged.

In fact, we have actually seen hateful speech at times this week decline *below* our prior norms, contrary to what you may read in the press.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022

Also read: Indian-origin Sriram Krishnan to help Elon Musk revamp Twitter

According to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden has been “outspoken about the importance of social media platforms continuing to take steps to reduce hate speech and misinformation.”

She told reporters earlier on Friday, “That belief (of Biden) extends to Twitter, …to Facebook and any other social media platforms where users can spread misinformation.”

According to Musk, he acquired Twitter because it was “important to the future of civilisation to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner without resorting to violence.”

Blame on activists

Shortly before the handover last week, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX wrote an open letter trying to reassure advertisers that he did not want the social network to become a “free-for-all hellscape.”

Also read: Takeover by Elon Musk: Twitter starts laying off staff in India; to seal offices

“In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences,” Musk tweeted a day before the handover.

Biden’s remarks followed reports of thousands of employees being laid off across the company. Musk claimed in a tweet that the layoffs were a cost-cutting measure. According to him, “unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day.”

He blamed the “massive drop in revenue” on “activist groups pressuring advertisers.” The laid-off employees will get three months of severance, he wrote.

Twitter’s blue tick, which is a mark of profile authenticity, is also now part of a paid subscription service.

(With agency inputs)