يحاولGOLD- Free

Musk's misinformation made the Southport horrors worse
The Independent|August 03, 2024
It’s unlikely that Elon Musk has ever heard of Southport, far less visited it. He has five or six companies to run, after all, and has been busy this week sounding off about Venezuela, Kamala Harris, puberty blockers, and why the legacy media lie to you.
- ALAN RUSBRIDGER
Musk's misinformation made the Southport horrors worse

So it’s probable that some ugly riots in a seaside town somewhere in northwest England will not have registered with the strange genius who may well be the richest man in the world. And it’s equally probable that, if you told Musk that he was in some way responsible for these riots, 5,000 miles away from the seven homes he owns/owned in California, he would scoff.

But that’s how it is. When Musk decided to splash out $44bn (£35bn) to buy what was then called Twitter, he took ultimate responsibility for the speech of 350 million-odd users of the platform. And Twitter – now called X – is where a foul virus spread in the wake of the horrendous stabbings of numerous children in Southport on Monday. That virus led to the rioting the very next day – and since. And Musk enabled it.

There are two things you need to know about Musk before we delve into the events of those two days. The first is that he is as close to a free-speech absolutist as it’s possible to find. He may draw the line at illegal speech – if only because assorted law enforcement and regulatory authorities would have him – but otherwise, on X, anything goes. It can be hateful, inflammatory, racist and/or plain untrue, and he couldn’t care less.

One of the first things he did when buying Twitter was to scrap or downsize the teams that tried, however ineffectively, to make it a place of decent and honest discourse. Proven liars and conspiracy spreaders like Alex Jones were welcomed back with open arms.

The second is that Musk shares with his hero Donald Trump an utter disdain for what he sneeringly calls the legacy media. Only this week he reposted, to nearly 200 million followers, this, from David Sacks, another friend of Trump: “The biggest divide in the electorate is between people who get their information from independent media and those who are brainwashed by the MSM (mainstream media).” It was seen by 4 million people.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 03, 2024 من The Independent.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 03, 2024 من The Independent.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من THE INDEPENDENT مشاهدة الكل
Labour voters value closer EU ties instead of with US
The Independent

Labour voters value closer EU ties instead of with US

Sir Keir Starmer has been warned not to \"cosy up to the White House\" as a new poll shows nearly two in three Labour voters believe he should build closer economic and security ties to Europe as Donald Trump returns to power.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 20, 2025
Reeves put on the back foot after exodus of non-doms
The Independent

Reeves put on the back foot after exodus of non-doms

Labour has been accused of trying to have it both ways as Rachel Reeves jets off to Davos to try to attract foreign investment while new figures show a millionaire leaves the country every 45 minutes.

time-read
3 mins  |
January 20, 2025
Meet the Maga insurgents taking over at White House
The Independent

Meet the Maga insurgents taking over at White House

How much damage could the anti-establishment agitators in the new administration do? Gabriel Gatehouse reports

time-read
5 mins  |
January 20, 2025
'Putin will not stop and ... so neither will the killing'
The Independent

'Putin will not stop and ... so neither will the killing'

Sam Kiley speaks to a former Ukrainian resistance fighter about his operations and why he is sceptical of peace talks

time-read
4 mins  |
January 20, 2025
Gazans welcome glimmer of hope in a cycle of death'
The Independent

Gazans welcome glimmer of hope in a cycle of death'

Families in Gaza described yesterday's ceasefire with Israel as a \"glimmer of hope in a cycle of death\" as they celebrated what they hope marks the end of Israel's ferocious bombardment of the strip, which has killed over 46,000 people.

time-read
4 mins  |
January 20, 2025
Woman stranded in Brazil after airline 'refuses eVisa'
The Independent

Woman stranded in Brazil after airline 'refuses eVisa'

A woman says she was left stranded in Brazil when airline staff refused to let her board her flight home to the UK after refusing to accept her eVisa.

time-read
3 mins  |
January 20, 2025
Thousands take to streets in protests for women's rights
The Independent

Thousands take to streets in protests for women's rights

Survivors of sexual violence were among the tens of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets across the UK to march in solidarity with all oppressed women and girls around the world.

time-read
3 mins  |
January 20, 2025
UK won't ban TikTok as ‘dancing cats are no threat'
The Independent

UK won't ban TikTok as ‘dancing cats are no threat'

Cats and dancing videos do not seem like a national security threat”, a cabinet minister said yesterday, as he confirmed there were no plans” to ban TikTok in the UK.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 20, 2025
Khan sparks fresh row over Trump with ‘fascism' jibe
The Independent

Khan sparks fresh row over Trump with ‘fascism' jibe

Sir Keir Starmer is embroiled in another row over Donald Trump after the Labour mayor of London warned of a \"resurgent fascism\" on the eve of the US president-elect's inauguration.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 20, 2025
Trump starts 'two-year race' with huge star-studded rally
The Independent

Trump starts 'two-year race' with huge star-studded rally

President-elect promises to kickstart reforms from day one

time-read
5 mins  |
January 20, 2025

نحن نستخدم ملفات تعريف الارتباط لتقديم خدماتنا وتحسينها. باستخدام موقعنا ، فإنك توافق على ملفات تعريف الارتباط. يتعلم أكثر