“The platforms have got to clean themselves up … X is not the platform that I knew.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has slammed Elon Musk, as he said that social media platform X had ‘changed for the worse’ and had failed to tackle threats aimed at MPs.
Hoyle made the comments while speaking to Matt Chorley for his first 5 Live show, where he said that in the past the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, had complied with requests to take down 92 percent of the threats against MPs — but now “only 8 percent comes down”.
Hoyle, who has previously said that the safety of MPs is an issue that keeps him awake at night after threats and intimidation reached unprecedented levels, also urged social media companies to ‘take their responsibilities more seriously’.
The Speaker also said: “If these social media platforms aren’t going to work … I think the government have got to think long and hard about what they’re going to do with social media.’
“The platforms have got to clean themselves up … X is not the platform that I knew.
“It’s completely changed. I’d love to say it’s changed for the better, it’s not. It’s changed for the worse.”
Hoyle’s criticism of X comes after far-right riots in towns and cities across the UK last month, fuelled by misinformation being shared on X, after the horrific attacks in Southport in which three young girls were murdered.
Following the horrific killings, the far-right were spreading misinformation about the identity of the attacker, claiming that he had arrived in the UK via a small boat with a number of far-right social media accounts claiming that the attacker was Muslim, a migrant, refugee or foreigner. Much of this misinformation circulated on X, as far-right rioters attacked mosques, assaulted police officers and targeted hotels with asylum seekers. The knifeman was later revealed to be Cardiff-born Axel Rudakubana.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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