WATCH: Elon Musk’s unexpected BBC interview… in 90 seconds
Elon Musk has defended how he runs Twitter in a rare and wide-ranging interview with the BBC.
The world’s second-richest man was questioned for nearly an hour by the BBC’s technology correspondent James Clayton at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco.
Here are six things we learned.
1. He denies hate speech on Twitter
Mr Musk has refused to accept more hateful content on stage since taking office.
Speaking to the BBC earlier this year, some Twitter insiders argued the company was no longer able to protect users from trolling, state-linked disinformation and child sexual exploitation, following lay-offs and changes under owner Mr Musk.
In March, Twitter said it removed 400,000 accounts in just one month to help “make Twitter safer.”
To fully assess Mr. Musk’s claims you need two things we don’t currently have — access to Twitter’s data before and after his takeover and, crucially, a clear understanding of how he defines misinformation and hate speech.
There is no blanket definition of hate speech under American law, which is generally more permissive than in other countries due to the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
2. They voted for Joe Biden
Mr Musk said half the country voted for Mr Trump in the last US election, but added: “I wasn’t one of them. I voted for Biden.”
In another part of the interview, he advocated ending a Twitter ban on Mr Trump that was lifted in 2021 when the platform accused him of inciting violence.
3. They say they’re beating the bots in the war on Twitter disinfo
Mr Musk has said efforts to delete bots – automated accounts – have reduced disinformation on Twitter since he took over.
“My experience is that there is less misinformation than more misinformation,” he told our reporter.
Some outside experts disagree. A study by NewsGuard, which tracks online misinformation — and there are a few other studies along the same lines — found that engagement with popular, misinformation-spreading accounts has increased since Mr. Musk’s takeover.
In the week after they acquired Twitter, the most popular, untrusted accounts experienced a nearly 60% increase in engagement in the form of likes and retweets, according to the survey.
The BBC independently analyzed more than 1,000 previously banned accounts reinstated on Twitter after Mr Musk’s takeover and found that, after reinstatement, a third of them had been abusive or had spread false information.
This includes false anti-vax claims, misogynistic and anti-LGBT rhetoric, and denials of the 2020 US election results.
4. He opposes banning TikTok
Musk says he doesn’t use the most downloaded app in the US but opposes any moves to shut it down.
The US is considering a ban due to security concerns over TikTok’s Chinese ownership. Some other countries have banned it from the phones of government employees.
“I’m generally against banning things,” Mr. Musk said, though he says the ban would benefit Twitter because more people spend time on its platform.
5. They turn down $44bn for Twitter
Elon Musk says that if someone offered to buy Twitter for a fee, he would decline. But is that true? Remember, Kasturi tried desperately to back out of the deal.
Musk claimed Twitter only had months to live when he took over and was run as a non-profit.
Twitter’s expenses have outstripped the amount of revenue it generates. In its last full-year results, published before Musk took over, total sales hit $5bn in 2021 while costs and expenses hit $5.5bn. In fact, it has only had two profitable years since 2012.
Musk reckons Twitter is now close to breaking even. No wonder – laying off 6,500 workers lightens one’s costs.
But they have been proactive in finding ways to increase sales through things like switching Twitter users for “Blue Tick” verification.
So yes, Twitter may be breaking even now due to drastic cost cutting. But the question is whether it can sustain the path to profitability and make the company worth a $44bn price tag.
6. He recoils at how the BBC is labeled
Musk confirmed that the BBC would change the Twitter label from “government funded” to “publicly funded” after last week’s row.
The BBC disputed the original explanation, emphasizing the corporation’s independence. It is funded mainly by the British public through TV license fees.
In an interview on Wednesday, Musk said: “If we use the same words that the BBC uses to describe itself, it’s probably OK.”
License fees will account for 71% of the BBC’s total revenue of £5.3bn in 2022 – with the rest coming from its commercial and other activities such as grants, royalties and rental income.
The BBC receives more than £90m a year from the government to support the BBC World Service, which serves a predominantly non-UK audience.
Reporting by Reality Check Team, BBC Monitoring and Dearbail Jordan, Business Correspondent
