Elon Musk blasts ABC after it abandons X for 'censorship-friendly' alternatives
The ABC's decision to close most of its accounts on X and increase its use of TikTok has sparked criticism from Elon Musk.
Elon Musk has blasted the ABC after it announced almost all of its X accounts would be closed down due to “toxic interactions”.
He accused Australia’s national broadcaster of preferring platforms where unpopular views could be easily censored.
Well of course they prefer censorship-friendly social media.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 9, 2023
The Australian public does not.
The ABC said it would abandon Twitter – now known as X – and instead increase its use of Chinese owned TikTok which has increasingly been the subject of national security concerns.
🔥Elon Musk reacts to the ABC axing almost all their accounts on X https://t.co/87a0jkf6Zn
— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) August 9, 2023
The national broadcaster’s managing director David Anderson told staff this week that all but four of the ABC’s accounts on X would be closed.
Only @abcnews, @abcsport, @abcchinese and the master @abcaustralia account would remain.
“Starting from today, other ABC accounts will be discontinued,” he said. This included closing down the Q&A account, ending the tradition of viewers comments being shown on screen in real time.
Anderson said what the number of what he called “toxic interactions” had increased since Elon Musk took over X.
“Concerningly, X has reduced its trust and safety teams. Additionally, it is introducing charges which make the platform increasingly costly to use.”
But Musk slammed the move.
“Well of course they prefer censorship-friendly social media. The Australian public does not,” he said.
Musk upset bosses at the ABC in April when he labelled the broadcaster “government-funded media”.
At that time a spokesperson for the ABC insisted there were no plans to leave Twitter.
While closing almost all X accounts, the ABC is ramping up its use of other social media platforms including Chinese Communist Party linked TikTok.
“We want to focus our effort and resources on where our audiences are,” Anderson said.
- By Avi Yemini
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