Musk calls in BBC journalist during interview

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Since Tesla boss Elon Musk (51) took over the short message service Twitter last fall, no stone has been left unturned. For example, Musk laid off a large part of the workforce to further reduce the company’s running costs.

BBC reporter James Clayton, among others, interviewed the tech mogul on Tuesday. However, the shot failed. That reports the New York Post.

“You Just Lied”

When the journalist claimed Twitter didn’t have enough staff to monitor hate speech on the platform, Musk lashed out at him. “What hate speech are you talking about?” Musk asked. “I mean, you use Twitter. Do you see an increase in hate speech? Just a personal anecdote?”

Despite his claim that hate speech is on the rise on the platform, Clayton couldn’t think of an example. “Honestly, I don’t use this feed anymore because I don’t like it that much,” the reporter said of Twitter’s “For You” feature.

After this answer, Musk really got down to business: “I’m asking for an example and you can’t give one. Then I say sir, you don’t know what you’re talking about. And yet you’ve argued that hateful content is high . That’s wrong, you just lied.”

Suddenly the journalist rowed back

Clayton came back claiming that others had reported an increase in hate speech, not that he himself had seen it on his Twitter feed.

But the Twitter boss was not happy with that, responding: “You literally said you’ve experienced more hateful content and then couldn’t give any example. That’s nonsensical!”

Clayton later clarified that the increase in hate speech he cited related to “content that would provoke a reaction, something mildly racist or sexist”. This explanation also did not seem plausible enough to Musk. “So you mean if something is a little sexist it should be banned? Is that what you’re saying?” “No, I’m not saying anything,” replied the journalist sheepishly. At the request of the New York Post, the BBC declined to comment on the interview.

Twitter is under increasing pressure

Twitter has come under increasing international pressure in recent weeks to take action against hate speech and illegal content on the platform. The European Union warned the company to hire more content moderation staff to comply with the Digital Services Act.

In addition, Germany’s Federal Office of Justice last week threatened Twitter with a $55 million fine for failing to adequately address illegal content such as hate speech, personal threats, libel and anti-Semitism. (dzc)

Source: Blick