Musk says Twitter is biased against conservatives -- facts say otherwise [View all]

[AZProgressive]

One of the reasons Tesla tycoon Elon Musk says he wants to take over Twitter is that the social media platform censors conservatives.

“I’m worried about de facto bias in ‘the Twitter algorithm’ having a major effect on public discourse,” he tweeted not long before launching his hostile $43 billion bid for the company.

(Snip)

Even anecdotal evidence of supposed bias tends to evaporate under close examination. Yes, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube barred former President Donald Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection. But while unprecedented, this response was justified by Trump’s repeated violation of platform rules against baselessly undermining election results and inciting violence.

Now, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale and the University of Exeter have released the first study that I’m aware of that takes an independent, empirical look at the bias claim. Twitter, they found, does tend to suspend Republican users far more frequently than Democrats. But that’s not necessarily because of partisan favoritism. Instead, it’s just as likely that Republicans were suspended because they tend to spread far more misinformation.

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3273956-musk-says-twitter-is-biased-against-conservatives-facts-say-otherwise/