Media elite on Elon Musk’s hit list as Twitter CEO finds ways to boost citizen journalism

Twitter CEO Elon Musk has revealed that the new changes implemented at the social networking company following his takeover aim to ultimately achieve the goal of boosting citizen journalism and disrupting the “oligopoly” of mainstream media outlets. In a series of tweets published on Friday, Musk took a dig at professional journalists and wrote: “As Twitter pursues the goal of elevating citizen journalism, media elite will try everything to stop that from happening.”

He also clarified that mainstream media will continue to exist, however, “increased competition from citizens will cause them to be more accurate, as their oligopoly on information is disrupted.” The Twitter owner’s recent tweets have left media professionals fuming, with several others expressing their disapproval and fearing a rise in fake news on the platform. 

Responding to Musk’s statement, one Twitter user wrote: “It's not "media elite" dude, you're getting owned by teenagers spending their lunch money to impersonate fortune 500 companies.” Another user pointed out the sheer irony in the billionaire perceiving working-class journalists as elite. “The richest man on the Earth out here calling others “elite” is quite something,” the user wrote. 

It is, however, crucial to note that Musk vouching for citizen journalism on Twitter comes days after he ended up in deep waters for posting a conspiracy theory and then later deleting it. The fiasco began when Musk uploaded a conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Musk lands in trouble for posting fake theory

As misinformation surrounding the assault surfaced on social media, former Democratic senator Hillary Clinton wrote: “The Republican party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories." “It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result. As citizens, we must hold them accountable for their words and the actions that follow,” she said, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Musk responded to this on Twitter by claiming that there is potentially more to the story “than meets the eye,” and shared a link of a conspiracy theory about the attack from the Santa Monica Observer, which the Times has accused of being “notorious for publishing false news."

Soon after, the Twitter chief deleted the post, which had already been retweeted 24,000 times, according to NBC News. With Musk now making a bid to increase citizen journalism, the question remains- Will Twitter turn into a digital catastrophe packed with misinformation that ultimately spurs nothing but chaos?