French President Macron had a ‘clear and sincere’ discussion with Elon Musk over Twitter
French President Emmanuel Macron, came face to face with the new Twitter chief Elon Musk, to express his concern over the content regulations on Twitter.
French President Emmanuel Macron, came face to face with the new Twitter chief Elon Musk, to express his concern over the content regulations on the social media networking site. The meeting came on the sidelines of the French President’s visit to the USA.
The visit also included Macron’s talks with US President Joe Biden. On Saturday, the French President took to Twitter to share the news that he had a “clear and sincere discussion” with Musk on Twitter policy. He wrote, “I talk about it here, on Twitter, because that’s what it’s all about. This afternoon, I met @elonmusk and we had a clear and sincere discussion.”
In the Twitter thread, Macron wrote that the two discussed the significance of “reinforcement of the content moderation and protection of freedom of expression.” The concern from the French President came after it was reported that Twitter has stopped enforcing a rule preventing users from sharing misleading information about COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness. Macron made it clear that “Twitter must make the effort to comply with the European regulations.”
The Tesla CEO, who acquired the social media networking site in October is known as the “free speech absolutist.” Last Week, the French president criticized Musk for the removal of the “misinformation flag” over the false information relating to COVID-19 as France is witnessing a sharp rise in COVID cases.
Macron also went on to assert that Musk “confirmed Twitter’s participation in the Christchurch Call” adding that, “There is no place for terrorist and violent extremist content anywhere.” The two parties also agreed on the need to “improve the protection of children online.”
Hate Speech surges on Twitter, after Musk’s Twitter takeover: Report
On Friday, The Center for Countering Digital Hate and Anti-Defamation League claimed that the volume of hate speech on Twitter, “grew dramatically” after Musk’s Twitter takeover. Musk had a dramatic first month as the new head of the social media microblogging site.
After the company laid off half of its workforce, Musk’s controversial decision (based on a poll!) to bring back, twice impeached former US President Donald Trump back on the platform also grabbed a lot of eyeballs. Musk who brought holocaust denier American rapper Kanye West back to Twitter, then went on to re-suspend his account after West made anti-semite statements following his reinstatement.
Citing the Center for Countering Digital Hate report, CNN reported that the daily use of the “n-word” on the platform has tripled in 2022, the same is the situation with slurs against gays and trans people. On the other hand, the Anti-Defamation League claimed in a separate report, that “data shows both an increase in antisemitic content on the platform and a decrease in the moderation of antisemitic statements.”
