X, the social media that was previously called Twitter, earlier had an option that users could use to report any content and flag it as ‘misleading information’. Under Elon Musk’s ownership, that option has been seemingly removed from the platform.
The Gradual Change In X
As per a report by the Guardian, Reset Australia, a group focused on digital advocacy, was the first to notice the option being absent. The tool simply known as ‘Report’ was present on every post ever made on the social media platform X. After the discovery, the organization created a letter, open to all, regarding how the option being removed affects Australian citizens as the nation prepares for a referendum vote coming up.
The letter details that users of X from Australia will no longer be able to report or flag misinformation regarding the elections even though there are mere weeks remaining before the referendum. The authors claim that they personally know of at least five distinct individuals throughout Australia who have searched for a way but have been unable to report misinformation regarding the elections.
The removal of the option for reporting misinformation regarding elections on X has been further confirmed by Mashable. However, this is not to say that the reporting facility has been removed completely. Users will still be able to flag content based on spam, hate, abuse, violence, and making deceptive impersonations of another user. However, misinformation has been completely removed from the list.
However, Mashable managed to locate a page in the help section of the platform that is outdated (as it still talks about Twitter) that talks about the method of using the now-nonexistent function. In it, it claims that the platform would review and act on the reports independently from the other flows of posts reported (for example for abuse).
