Elon Musk’s X Shakeup: Disinformation Research Cut, Legal Worries Abound

According to a survey of planned projects and nearly a dozen interviews, over 100 studies on X (previously known as Twitter) have been either canceled, suspended, or modified by social media researchers due to restrictions imposed by Elon Musk, which have restricted their access to the platform.

Musk’s restrictions on critical information-gathering methods on a global platform have stifled the ability to trace the origin and spread of misinformation during real-time events such as Hamas’s attack on Israel and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, researchers told Reuters.

The most important method was a tool that gave researchers access to data from about 10 million tweets per month. According to a Reuters email, Twitter told researchers in February that it was ending free academic access to this application programming interface (API) as part of an overhaul of the tool.

A survey of 167 academic and civil society researchers conducted in September by the Coalition for Independent Technology Research at the request of Reuters measures for the first time the number of studies canceled because of Musk’s policies.

It also shows that the majority of respondents fear that X will sue them for their findings or use of the data. The concern stems from X’s July lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) after it published critical reports on the platform’s content management.

Musk did not respond to a request for comment, and a representative for X declined to comment. The company has previously said that almost all content views are “healthy” posts.

Musk’s first year as X owner has been marred by advertisers fleeing the site, worried that their ads could appear next to harmful content. Reuters previously reported that X’s U.S. ad revenue fell at least 55 percent year-over-year in each month since Musk’s acquisition.

The study showed 30 canceled projects, 47 stalled projects and 27 where researchers switched platforms. It also revealed 47 ongoing projects, although some researchers noted that their ability to collect fresh data would be limited.

Influential studies include research on hate speech and topics that have received global regulatory scrutiny. In one example, a stalled project sought to investigate child safety with X. The platform was recently fined by an Australian regulator for failing to cooperate with an investigation into its anti-child abuse practices.

The researcher of the stopped project and several other respondents to the Koalition’s survey asked to remain anonymous. The author of the study said that the researchers may seek to avoid a backlash from X or to protect ongoing research.

European Union regulators are also currently investigating X’s handling of disinformation, which was the focus of several stalled or canceled independent investigations.

The reduced ability to research the platform “exposes (X) users to hate speech, misinformation and disinformation,” said Josephine Lukito, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

He helped conduct a research survey for the Coalition, a global group of more than 300 members working to advance research on the social impact of technology.

The survey was sent in mid-September by e-mail to members of the coalition and to e-mail lists for other academic groups, such as experts focusing on political communication or social media.

An EU investigation into X under tough new internet rules that took effect in August highlights a potential regulatory threat to the San Francisco-based company. Any violations can result in fines of up to 6 percent of global revenue.

A spokeswoman for the EU Commission said it is currently monitoring X and other major platforms’ compliance with their obligations under the law, which includes access to publicly available data by researchers who meet certain conditions.

UNPAID COSTS

Before Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, much of the research on social media had been about Twitter because the platform was a valuable source of information about politics and current events. Its data was readily available, four researchers told Reuters.

But almost from the moment Musk stepped into Twitter’s headquarters, he began cutting costs and laying off thousands of employees, including those working on research tools.

Now X offers three paid API tiers, ranging from $100 to $42,000 per month, with the cheaper tiers offering less data than what was available to researchers for free before. Almost every researcher who spoke to Reuters said they could not afford the cost.

One former employee, who declined to be named for fear of a backlash from Musk, said the decision to shut down free academic API access was prompted by an urgent need to focus on increasing revenue and cutting costs after Musk took over.

The majority of survey respondents cited API changes as a reason for suspending or suspending research on the platform.

Lukito said the affordable cost of receiving less data than was previously available means research before 2024, a major election year globally, will be a serious challenge.

Tim Weninger, an engineering professor at the University of Notre Dame, said his team has been “flying blind” in trying to track China-related data operations without API data, the cost of which is prohibitive, he said.

Several researchers told Reuters they now have limited options to study X, such as manual analysis of messages.

Researchers also face limitations in collecting data from other social platforms. Short-form video app TikTok released an API for academic research earlier this year, but its onerous terms limit its usefulness to researchers, New York University researcher Megan A. Brown said in a blog post for Tech Policy Press.

Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has collaborated with external researchers in studies, which does not replace independent research, but shows Meta’s willingness to cooperate, Lukito said.

LEGAL CONCERNS

CCDH, an organization that said it works to combat hate speech and disinformation, released several reports after Musk’s acquisition alleging that the social media platform failed to moderate and also profited from harmful content.

X sued CCDH in July, accusing the organization of misusing the platform’s data and promoting false claims about X’s sobriety.

“Musk wants to silence any criticism of the way he operates,” said CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed, adding that CCDH stood by its report.

In a survey by the Coalition for Independent Technology Research, 104 out of 167 respondents cited potential legal action over either data use or research results as a concern for their projects.

“The movement against the CCDH sends a message to researchers looking at misinformation and hate speech in online platforms that there is an inherent responsibility in publicly disseminating findings,” said Bond Benton, an assistant professor at Montclair State University who produced the study last year that found the hate. talk increased on Twitter hours after Musk’s takeover.

One researcher, who declined to be named, studied how rape is discussed on X, and told the survey she was concerned about legal risk and the scientific validity of data collected without an API. The researcher said he moved the study to investigate a different social media platform.

Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino have announced a new policy called “free speech, not reach,” which limits the distribution of some posts but refrains from removing them from the platform.

X has said that 99% of the content users see on the platform is “healthy,” which the company found in July based on ratings from Sprinklr, a software company that helps brands track market trends and customer sentiment online.

A spokesman for Sprinklr, which is listed as an official Twitter partner, declined to confirm the figures cited in the July release when asked by Reuters for comment, saying “all recent external reports from Twitter/X have been made without the involvement of Sprinklr.”

The spokesperson referred to a March blog post that said toxic posts about X received three times fewer views than non-toxic posts.

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