Twitter CEO Elon Musk got the upper hand on James Clayton when he pressed the BBC reporter for an example of hateful content on the social media platform.
The interview was streamed Tuesday night on Twitter Spaces. Musk was asked about everything from his management of Twitter to the website labeling the British Broadcasting Corporation as “Government Funded Media.” The conversation eventually arrived at the subject of content moderation, and that’s when Musk asked Clayton, “Do you see a rise in hate speech?”
Clayton said he has seen “more of that kind of content, personally,” which he described as provocative content that also includes racist or sexist elements.
“So you think if something is slightly sexist, it should be banned?” Musk asked.
“I’m not saying anything,” Clayton responded, so Musk pressed on by saying, “I’m just curious what you mean by hateful content. I’m asking for specific examples. And you just said that if something is slightly sexist, that’s hateful content. Does that mean that it should be banned?”
Clayton was then caught flatfooted when he said hateful content was on the rise but couldn’t produce a specific example when Musk asked him to
Clayton: You’ve asked me whether my feed, whether it’s got less or more. I’d say it’s got slightly more.
Musk: That’s why I’m asking for examples. Can you name one example?
Clayton: I honestly don’t — honestly…
Musk: You can’t name a single example?
Clayton: I’ll tell you why, because I don’t actually use that feed anymore. Because I just don’t particularly like it. I think a lot of people are quite similar. I only look at what my followers said.”
Musk: You’ve said you’ve seen more hateful content, but you can’t name a single example. Not even one.
Clayton: I’m not sure I’ve used that feed for the last three or four weeks.
Musk: But then, how can you see that hateful content?
Clayton: Because I’ve been I’ve been using it. I’ve been using Twitter since you’ve taken over the last six months.
Musk: So then, you must have at some point seen that hateful content. I’m asking you for one example, and you can’t give a single one…Then I say so that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Clayton: Really?
Musk: Yes. Because you can’t give a single example of hateful content. Not even one tweet. And yet, you claimed the hateful content was high. That was false. You just lied.
Even though Clayton struggled to provide any examples of hateful content, he referred to “many organizations” that have reported that there has been a rise in hate speech since Musk purchased the social media platform.
Give me one example,” Musk demanded. Clayton answered that the Institute for Strategic Dialogue “will say that,” so Musk countered, “people will say all sorts of nonsense. I’m asking for a single example. You can’t name one.”
“I don’t think this is getting anywhere,” Clayton said before admitting, “I can’t give you an example.” He then changed the subject to the coverage of Covid misinformation.
