By: Isuru Parakrama
October 17, World (LNW): Under Elon Musk’s leadership, X (formerly known as Twitter) has become a platform for unchecked violence, sensitive content, and extreme ideologies.
The death of former One Direction singer Liam Payne, purportedly falling from a building, are circulating widely on the platform, reflecting the broader pattern of disturbing content thriving under Musk’s vision of “free speech.”
A video is currently being shared on X purporting Payne’s death, only to find out that it is an old footage of a man trying to escape a fire from a building. But the real question is… why open a platform for death videos in the first place?
Musk has long touted his commitment to freedom of expression, claiming that X will be an open forum where ideas can be shared without censorship. However, this supposed stance on free speech has revealed a far more sinister agenda—one motivated by his far-right political leanings.
Instead of fostering healthy debate, X has become a breeding ground for violent, pornographic, and graphic material, with little to no effort to moderate the harmful content.
This is no accident. Since taking over X, Musk has dismantled moderation efforts, scaling back the platform’s content regulation in ways that allow harmful videos and extremist content to flourish.
Graphic videos showing real-life violence, including the alleged footage of Payne’s death, are part of a wider trend where content depicting killings, animal cruelty, and explicit pornography circulates freely on the platform.
Under previous management, many of these materials would have been flagged, removed, or restricted. But Musk’s refusal to hold the platform to basic standards of decency under the guise of “free speech” has only normalised harmful behaviour.
Musk’s far-right leanings seem to drive his lax approach to content moderation. His sympathies with controversial figures, support for conspiracy theories, and criticism of progressive causes create an environment where the boundaries of decency are stretched, and extreme views are amplified.
By stripping away safety measures, Musk’s platform has emboldened those who revel in sharing violent and offensive material, knowing that they can do so without consequence.
In the guise of defending freedom of expression, Musk has permitted X to spiral into a cesspool of insensitive and dangerous content, compromising the safety and well-being of millions of users. The platform, once a space for connection and dialogue, is now saturated with disturbing videos and images that can easily reach vulnerable individuals, including children.
The risks posed by this unchecked spread of graphic content are immense, with long-term social and psychological implications that could be devastating.
Musk’s vision for X is not one of true freedom of expression, but rather a dangerous experiment in platform deregulation that aligns with his far-right ideological motivations. By erasing boundaries and abandoning moderation, he has unleashed chaos under the pretence of liberty, with violence, extremism, and exploitation at its core. The widespread sharing of videos like Payne’s alleged death is a symptom of a larger issue—a platform that has prioritised ideological extremism over public safety.
Needless to remind that Musk, who is currently under the limelight for his latest invention ‘Optimus,’ an AI-operated robot, and autopiloted vehicles made by Tesla, once categorically exhibited his bigotry bouncing back to his self-proclaimed freedom of expression, by abandoning his own daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, for being transgender, misgendering her, and lying on public record that he was ‘tricked into signing papers’ for her legal transition.
This deterioration of content regulation is both a reflection of Musk’s far-right sympathies and a warning of the dangers posed by unchecked media platforms. Users, advertisers, and the global community must question Musk’s leadership and the direction in which X is headed before it is too late.
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