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Twitter has been a pioneer in the fight against false information and election security for a number of years.It was the first major platform to ban former President Donald Trump following the Capitol insurrection, prompting others to follow suit. It was often ahead of its peers in creating and enforcing new policies.
However, there are growing concerns that the turmoil that erupted within Twitter during the first week following Elon Musk's acquisition could weaken its election security measures just before the midterm elections.
Last week, Musk's Twitter laid off thousands of employees, including members of its public policy and trust and safety teams and its curation team, which contributes to the platform's ability to provide accurate information about elections and other news events.The chaos only got worse over the weekend when Twitter appeared to roll out and then put off a controversial plan that would have allowed any user to pay to be verified. Critics of the plan had said it would make it hard for people to trust tweets and accounts during the midterm elections.
After the midterm elections, Musk promised not to change any of Twitter's content policies.However, Paul Barrett, deputy director of the Stern Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University, stated that the company has been rendered weaker and more susceptible as a result of the changes he has already made.
Barrett stated, "because large numbers of Twitter employees who otherwise would be paying attention to misuse of the platform have already been fired, are worrying that they’re next on the chopping block, or are distracted by the plight of coworkers being ushered out the door," and "the Musk-induced Category 5 hurricane at Twitter has the potential to disrupt the midterms."
According to Barrett, the threats that Twitter might face on Election Day and in the days that follow include known dangers like false claims of election fraud, attempts to intimidate voters, and violent language.He went on to say that the chaos at Twitter also means that the company will be even less prepared to recognize and combat novel manipulation techniques for which there is no playbook.
While private platforms like Twitter are on their own and are accountable for managing any misinformation that may appear on their sites, US officials overseeing the election have stated that there is currently no evidence of any specific or credible threats to the election infrastructure.
According to Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the United States government, who spoke with CNN on Saturday evening, "We don't flag anything to platforms around misinformation, disinformation."That is entirely up to those platforms—Twitter and social media—based on how they enforce their terms of service.
Deep cuts
Twitter has stated that it is still committed to protecting elections and that the job cuts that occurred last week, which affected half of the company's workforce, were less severe in its trust and safety team, where approximately 15% of employees were laid off.
For this story, Twitter did not respond to a request for comment, and attempts to contact a company spokesperson resulted in an email bounce-back message indicating that they were no longer employed by the company.The cutbacks seem to have hit enormous areas of Twitter's PR group, with various authorities saying their time at the organization has finished, including Brian Poliakoff, Twitter's worldwide head of corporate and client interchanges, and Julie Steele, its previous head of inner correspondences.
But the company hasn't said much about how the layoffs might make it harder for Twitter to fight fake news.Yoel Roth, the head of safety and integrity at the company, addressed the layoffs on Friday and stated that the daily volume of actions taken by Twitter to moderate content and 80% of Twitter's incoming content moderation volume had been "completely unaffected."But Roth was talking about Twitter's ability to moderate content in relation to a change in internal policy made the week before, not staff cuts, and the time he was referring to ended before the mass layoffs on Nov. 3 and 4.
"With early democratic in progress in the US, our endeavors on political decision respectability — including destructive falsehood that can smother the vote and combatting state-upheld data tasks — stay a main concern," expressed Roth on Friday night.
However, despite the fact that Twitter's content moderation staff was slashed more broadly than at other parts of the company, whole teams—some of which were crucial to election coverage—were slashed.
According to tweets from former employees, including Andrew Haigh, Twitter's former senior curation lead for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, one of them was reportedly the curation team.The Moments feature of the website, which showed important world events and explained to users why certain topics were trending, was created by the curation team.
According to a person who is familiar with the inner workings of the curation team, Moments were increasingly being used to debunk misinformation or highlight major news stories in recent years. In other words, the person said, "the type of coverage you’d want on election day."
Civil rights leaders have criticized the layoffs, stating that, regardless of what Twitter claims, the reduced staff will hinder Twitter's ability to implement its election policies, even if the rules have not changed.
Jessica González, Free Press's co-CEO, stated, "He cannot enforce content moderation policies if he does not have the staff to do so."According to Roth, "front-line moderation staff" were among the least affected by the cuts Friday evening.)
A messy product rollout
A campaign urging Twitter's largest advertisers to halt their spending on advertising has been spearheaded by civil rights organizations.Major brands like General Mills and Audi have stopped advertising on Twitter since last week, contributing to what Musk calls a steep decline in the company's revenue.
Musk has proposed a paid verification feature for Twitter that would allow any user to obtain a blue check mark on their profiles for an annual fee of $8.However, by making it more difficult to eliminate false information, that could also contribute to its own form of election chaos.
On Saturday, Twitter gave the impression of releasing an iOS app update that indicated the feature was already available to users in the United States and other English-speaking nations.
However, despite the fact that users were able to pay for the subscription service Twitter Blue, the promised check marks did not appear on user profiles—the product did not match the marketing.
On Saturday, Twitter's director of product management Esther Crawford tweeted, "The service is not yet live."The new Blue isn't live yet; the sprint to our launch is still going on, but some people might see us making changes because we're testing and pushing them right now.
A person who was aware of the decision told CNN that the company decided to hold off on implementing account verifications for its paid Twitter Blue subscription plan until after the midterm elections.
Policy whiplash
The 2024 presidential campaign, which could begin later this month as Trump reportedly nears a formal announcement of his candidacy, may also be impacted by Musk's allegedly hasty decisions, which could add to the uncertainty during the crucial period following Election Day as votes are counted.
Civil rights groups asserted that the rush to deploy a feature that has not been tested opens the door to unintended outcomes following the election, such as the possibility of impersonating election officials.
On the call, Rashad Robinson, CEO of Color of Change, told reporters, "Any right-wing troll can pay $8... get a blue check mark, and then change their name to CNN or Georgia’s secretary of state."
Musk has argued that by charging for a blue check mark, spammers will be forced to pay more.However, misinformation researchers have informed CNN that well-funded adversaries, such as highly motivated state-backed actors attempting to meddle in elections, would simply view the paid verification as an additional expense associated with conducting business.
Chris Krebs, the former director of CISA, stated that Musk's proposal alters the information that the symbol conveys to the user and alters the meaning of verification."We've confirmed the person is who they say they are, and the verified logo has been a sign of trust," Krebs tweeted.Now, "we're taking their money and their word for it" is the mantra.
After a number of famous people, including comedians Sarah Silverman and Kathy Griffin, used their verified status to mock the billionaire's plan by changing their profiles to look like Elon Musk and changing their names to Elon Musk, those issues became clear over the weekend.
Hours later, Musk reversed one of his most famous promises, saying that under his rule, permanent bans would be “extremely rare.”He tweeted,Without prior notice, "every Twitter handle engaging in impersonation will be permanently suspended" in the future.
Although Musk did not explain the sudden and extensive policy change as a response to concerns about election security, the change appears likely to include accounts that impersonate election officials.
Twitter has become an election wildcard as a result of the shakeup.
"My sense is that the genuine effects of these progressions might take a piece longer to be felt," John Scott-Railton, a network safety and disinformation scientist at the College of Toronto's Resident Lab. "However, they will be dramatic.
