How Twitter Has Become A Hotbed Of Misinformation

As the EU warns of fake news, Elon Musk's reinvention has evolved into an increasingly unhelpful place to follow events such as the conflict in Israel and Gaza, writes Andrew Griffin

Earlier this year, Elon Musk made one of his more subtle changes to Twitter/X. For nearly 15 years, it had included a message in its tweet composer that used the prompt: “What’s happening?” Then, this summer, it lost its contraction and gained an exclamation mark. “What is happening?!”

The frenzied and confused tone is perfect for our times and for today’s Twitter/X. So is the hint that the question has moved from being genuine to rhetorical. Once, the joke about Twitter/X was that people answered that question by describing their breakfast; today, if the question is answered at all, it is likely to be as an expression of confusion, ignorance or anger. “What is happening?!” Well, one thing is for sure, Twitter/X is certainly not an especially good place to find out. And it has been getting worse.

This week, as Israel and Gaza were swept by violence, Twitter/X should have been some help in piecing together what was happening. Historically, it has thrived in such moments – providing a mix of on-the-ground reports, verifiable media and informed analysis by experts. But over the years – even before Musk took over – those have been lost. That reportage has been mixed in with misleading reports; analysis has been swapped for opinion.

The problem has become so rife that Musk has today faced censure from the European Union. There are indications Twitter/X is hosting “fake and manipulated images and facts ... such as repurposed old images of unrelated armed conflicts or military footage that actually originated from video games”, wrote commissioner Thierry Breton.