X, a platform that was one known as Twitter, was ‘purchased’ for a staggering USD 44 billion by the richest man in the world and the boss of Tesla, SpaceX, and the Boring Company, Elon Musk, in 2022.
Is X Balanced?
Ever since its acquisition about 2 years ago, it is not just the name and the appearance of the platform that have changed, but its philosophy of functioning.
For many, the app that was once dysfunctional and problematic turned into an absolute scene of despondency under Elon Musk’s stewardship. The platform also took a shift in its ideological paradigm, as it tilted more towards the right.
However, Elon Musk, the owner of the platform has defended it and said it is balanced.
Musk made remarks indicating this idea, while reacting to a a post on X. The original post by X account ‘Stat Shepard’ emphatically claimed, “š¯•¸ stands out as the most politically balanced social media platform.”
The post further went on to add, “Unlike many other platforms, š¯•¸ has an almost equal split between Democrat (48 per cent) and Republican (47 per cent) news consumers.As you would expect, the data don’t align with the “right-wing dominance” narrative projected by traditional media.”
Elon Musk’s Big Claim
The user also provided a statistic to underscore the aspect.
It needs to be noted that this apparent statistic is limited to the American population, and does talk about other territories.
Quoting this post, Musk quickly responded and add his thoughts. “That is the goal. This platform only seems toā€¯right-wingā€¯ to the left.”, Musk said.
Thereby dismissing the allegations that the platform has not turned into righ-leaning social media website.
X’s Rightward Shift
The allegations of X’s rightward tilt comes from the company boss, Elon Musk’s own shift in the direction of rightwing politics, not only in the context of Trump and America, but Musk’s larger global outlook has acquired a shape that is largely right-leaning.
Representative Image
In addition, the company policy is also another reason why many have deemed X right-leaning. While the platform was still Twitter, it laid additional emphasis on content moderation. However, Musk’s acquisition changed the platform on its head, as he fired a significant apparatus that was involved in content moderation, in the garb of Free Speech advocacy.
Recently, publication like The Guardian announced that they will not posting their news on the platform, further rasinig the validity of Musk’s claims.
