President Joe Biden expressed his rejection of the way in which Elon Musk has run the reins of X , formerly Twitter, since its acquisition. In an interview with ProPublica , the president explained that the platform is to blame for citizens "having no notion" about whether the information they consume is true or false.
Biden was asked specifically about Musk's management as owner of the social network, and how this could have influenced misinformation. The president responded with a slight stutter:
Where do people get their news? They go on the internet, they, they, they, they go online, and you have no notion whether it's true or not.
JUST IN: Biden appears to not be happy with Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter because now people have “no notion” of what information is true.
What he meant to say is how upset he is that the government can no longer control what you see on X.
“They, they, they, they, they go… pic.twitter.com/Fs9eiJ8LUM
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 1, 2023
The fight between X and the Biden administration
Despite the president's clear statements, this is not the first time that a Biden Administration official has criticized Elon Musk's management of the platform. Last year, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre expressed her concern regarding this issue and even admitted that the administration was "monitoring" the changes being made to the social network:
This is something we are certainly keeping an eye on. Look, we have always been very clear that when it comes to social media platforms, it is their responsibility to make sure that when it comes to misinformation when it comes to the hate that we're seeing, that they take action. That they continue to take action ...
Musk's time at X / Twitter
Since Musk bought Twitter (now X), the billionaire revealed how the social network's old board allowed the government to interfere with the content that users consumed, on many occasions censoring stories or posts that were not favorable to them or harmed their public image.
In an interview conducted a few months ago by Tucker Carlson, Musk revealed "the degree to which government agencies had full access to everything that was happening on Twitter blew my mind. I wasn't aware of it."
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 16, 2023
