Twitter CEO Elon Musk has been flipping the platform with some big changes. Now, he’s taking aim at scientific consensus.

Mahmoud Bennett Social Media Producer

Musk announces new Twitter policy is to follow, question science

Dec 29, 2022

Mahmoud Bennett Social Media Producer

By Mahmoud Bennett (Social Media Producer), Stacey Chamberlain (Producer)

Twitter CEO Elon Musk has been flipping the platform with some big changes. Now, he’s taking aim at scientific consensus.

“New Twitter policy is to follow the science, which necessarily includes reasoned questioning of the science,” Musk tweeted.

Musk did not elaborate what constitutes reasoned questioning nor how this policy would take effect. Previous Twitter policy targeted COVID-19 misinformation, which often exclusively elevated government sources. Part of that was rolled back in November. Some health officials argue that unvetted health claims on Twitter are a legitimate risk to public safety for those who rely on the platform for news.

Meanwhile, Twitter saw a massive international outage Wednesday evening, with more than 10,000 users saying they couldn’t log on.

“Significant backend server architecture changes had been made,” Musk tweeted, adding, “Twitter should feel faster.”

Outages have been a concern since Twitter made significant reductions to its workforce with little notice. Musk says he will continue to run the software and servers teams but has pledged to pass on his role to a new CEO.

Tags: COVID-19, Elon Musk, Health, Misinformation, Science, Twitter

MAHMOUD BENNETT: TWITTER CEO ELON MUSK HAS BEEN FLIPPING THE PLATFORM WITH SOME BIG CHANGES.

NOW HE’S TAKING AIM AT SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS WRITING QUOTE “NEW TWITTER POLICY IS TO FOLLOW THE SCIENCE, WHICH NECESSARILY INCLUDES REASONED QUESTIONING OF THE SCIENCE.

MUSK DID NOT ELABORATE WHAT CONSTITUTES REASONED QUESTIONING NOR HOW THIS POLICY WOULD TAKE EFFECT.

PREVIOUS TWITTER POLICY TARGETED QUOTE COVID MISINFORMATION WHICH OFTEN EXCLUSIVELY ELEVATED GOVERNMENT SOURCES – PART OF THAT WAS ROLLED BACK IN NOVEMBER.

SOME HEALTH OFFICIALS ARGUE THAT UNVETTED HEALTH CLAIMS ON TWITTER ARE A LEGITIMATE RISK TO PUBLIC SAFETY FOR THOSE WHO RELY ON THE PLATFORM FOR NEWS.

MEANWHILE TWITTER SAW A MASSIVE INTERNATIONAL OUTAGE WEDNESDAY EVENING, WITH MORE THAN 10,000 USERS SAYING THEY COULDN’T LOG ON.

MUSK TWEETED WELL INTO THE NIGHT THAT “SIGNIFICANT BACKEND SERVER ARCHITECTURE CHANGES” HAD BEEN MADE AND THAT “TWITTER SHOULD FEEL FASTER”.

OUTAGES HAVE BEEN A CONCERN SINCE TWITTER SLASHED, BY SOME ESTIMATES, UP TO HALF OF ITS WORKFORCE WITH LITTLE NOTICE.

ELON MUSK SAYS HE WILL CONTINUE TO RUN THE SOFTWARE & SERVERS TEAMS BUT HAS PLEDGED TO PASS ON HIS ROLE TO A NEW CEO.