“X should not determine the veracity of disputed information,” the platform said in the blog post.
San Francisco:
Elon Musk lifted a ban on political ads on Twitter on Tuesday to thwart disinformation before the billionaire bought the platform now called X.
The welcoming of potentially misleading political posts on X came less than a week after former President Donald Trump posted there for the first time since January 2021.
Trump posted his police mugshot after his arrest in Georgia, signaling his return to a platform that was his megaphone of choice during his years in the White House.
It was his first post since several days after the U.S. Capitol riot, where an angry mob of his supporters tried to block Joe Biden’s certification as president.
Then-current Twitter permanently suspended Trump after the Jan. 6 riot, ruling that he had violated the platform’s policy on glorifying violence when he highlighted his false claims that the election was stolen from him.
Musk, who bought the platform last year, reinstated the former president in November 2022, but Trump stayed away, opting instead to reach his followers on his own platform, Truth Social, albeit with a much smaller audience.
X said in a blog post that allowing political advertising, starting in the United States, “built on our commitment to free speech.”
The X Policy prohibits the promotion of false or misleading information, including false claims designed to undermine confidence in elections, the blog argued.
Trump’s recent mugshot post contained the caption “Election Interference.”
A judge set Monday, March 4, 2024 for Trump’s election subversion conspiracy trial, placing one of the largest criminal cases in U.S. history at the climax of the next White House race.
X said it is expanding its security and election teams to focus on combating manipulation of the platform and will provide an online center for political advertising to be reviewed.
Musk trimmed the workforce after buying Twitter, raising concerns about its ability to moderate content and function reliably.
X said it is updating its Citizen Integrity Election Protection Policy to address content designed to intimidate or mislead voters while aligning with Musk’s philosophy of letting people say what they want.
“X should not determine the veracity of disputed information,” the platform said in the blog post.
“Instead, we should empower our users to express their views and debate openly during elections, in line with our commitment to protecting freedom of expression.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published through a syndicated feed.)
