Report: Elon Musk to cut X election integrity team by half

Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, reportedly plans to gut its election integrity team and dump the group’s boss — a decision that has caused concern as the United States and countries around the world prepare for major elections.

X’s worldwide cuts will reduce the team’s staff by roughly half, according to The Information. The platform promised to expand that team less than a month ago, but may now have no more than six members, the Messenger reports.

Speaking Tuesday during a press conference, the EU’s European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova dubbed X “the platform with the largest ratio of mis- or disinformation posts,” and called on Musk to comply with laws against anti-democratic propaganda as Poland and Slovakia prepare for elections next month.

Russian interference is a major concern.

Google, TikTok, Microsoft, Facebook and Instagram have all pledged to abide by the EU’s 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation. Musk, however, dropped out of that 27-country initiative after purchasing Twitter for $44 billion in October and rebranding it as X in July.

X’s approach to election integrity also raised concerns Down Under this week. Tech site Reset Australia reported that an option which allowed to users report political disinformation no longer appears on the platform.

“It is extremely concerning that Australians would lose the ability to report serious misinformation weeks away from a major referendum,” Reset Australia wrote in an open letter to X.

In 2019, the Mueller Report concluded that Russian operatives used social media to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Facebook and Twitter found evidence those bad actors were once again active when Americans went to the polls in 2020.

Musk calls himself a “free speech absolutist,” though critics and advertisers worry what that means with regards to hate speech and dissemination of mistruths of his platform. X is believed to have lost more than half its value under his ownership.

When contacted for comment, X replied, “Busy now, please check back later.”