Elon Musk schools BBC journalist on hate speech claims on Twitter

BBC/Twitter

Elon Musk confronted a BBC journalist during an interview about alleged "hate speech" on Twitter since he acquired the platform, leaving the journalist scrambling for answers.

To quote Omar from the Wire, "you come at the king, you best not miss," is a lesson that BBC reporter James Clayton should have taken to heart before challenging Elon Musk about the supposed prevalence of hate speech on Twitter since Musk purchased the site.

Clayton failed to provide any specific examples of hate speech, and Musk did not hesitate to call him out on his unpreparedness.

During the interview, Clayton stated that people involved in moderation claimed there were not enough resources to police hate speech on the platform and asked if Musk planned to address the issue.

Musk questioned what hate speech Clayton was referring to, asking whether he had personally witnessed a rise in hate speech on Twitter. Clayton responded that he encountered "more of that content" on his For You page but could not provide a concrete example when asked by Musk.

Clayton vaguely described the content as something that could "solicit a reaction that may include something slightly racist or sexist."

Musk pressed for a specific example, but Clayton admitted he had not looked at the For You tab in nearly a month. Musk pointed out the inconsistency in Clayton's claims and accused him of not knowing what he was talking about and lying.

Ironically, the BBC journalist said “let’s move on we only have a certain amount of time.” He ended up cutting his interview short by 30 minutes and @alx, @cb_doge, @WholeMarsBlog and I took over the space with much better questions than anything he was prepared to ask Elon. https://t.co/jefAqpUwqb

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 12, 2023

Twitter users were quick to criticize the BBC and Clayton's unpreparedness for the interview. Commenters, irrespective of their political views, slammed the reporter’s inability to handle the tough interview, or even offer salient definitions of “hate speech” and “disinformation.”

Legacy media often struggles to define hate speech, as their definitions tend to encompass any speech they disagree with.

Musk ensured that the interview was aired in full on Twitter Spaces, revealing the discrepancies in the BBC's write-up of the exchange.

According to Jack Posobiec, the BBC's article "omitted the part where Elon challenged this journalist on 'hateful content,'" and instead claimed that the BBC challenged Musk on the issue.