Elon Musk’s focus on the number of bots on Twitter, whether genuine or a distraction, does little to address the problems of misinformation and spam. A pair of social media experts explain why.
Muhoozi Kainerugaba, commander of Uganda’s land forces and President Yoweri Museveni’s son.
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Elon Musk’s recent antics call into question his decision to purchase Twitter. With a US$1 billion termination fee built into the contract, Musk should cut his losses.
There’s a tension between facilitating free and fair debate on social media, and businesses’ bottom line. And it must be resolved with the public interest in mind.
A Nairobi protest against homophobic statements made by a government minister.
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Elon Musk will need to tackle false information on Twitter, say researchers.
Social media sites like Twitter have been a major source of both true and false information regarding COVID-19 vaccines.
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Jungmi Jun, University of South Carolina and Ali Zain, University of South Carolina
A team analyzed more than 21 million tweets about COVID-19 vaccines and found that negative sentiments on social media were tied to lower-than-expected vaccination rates in many nations.
Elon Musk claims to champion free speech, but his plans for Twitter could stifle the free exchange of ideas.
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Elon Musk said he wants to make Twitter a platform for free speech. Here is what research shows about claims of political bias and excessive moderation.
Internet technologies have meant that the public sphere has now become digital, but what does that mean for its ownership?
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Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter is seen as a threat to the digital public square. International regulation is required to protect internet users’ access to democratic public spaces.
Elon Musk has over 80 million Twitter followers, so why does he need to own the platform?
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Analysis of Trump’s post-Twitter communications suggest that the former president has not moderated his messaging style. So what does that mean if he were to go back on Twitter?
The digital public sphere is constantly evolving, so we need a regulatory framework that helps to structure public discussion, and in turn guide our own public contributions as citizens.
A new Gilded Age of media barons?
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Musk has long touted Twitter’s potential as an open and inclusive ‘town square’ for public discourse – but the reality is social media platforms were never meant to fulfil this role.
Musk’s tweets badgering Twitter’s board raised important corporate governance questions about a board’s purpose and whether its members should own shares in the company they oversee.