Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Sunday that she doesn’t trust billionaire Elon Musk to run Twitter, noting the rise in hate speech on the social media platform after the tech mogul officially took control of the company last week.
Mr. Musk has promised less content moderation and more freedom on the site in the face of criticism that the social network was previously too strict and unfairly targeted conservatives.
“[Mr. Musk] was posting antisemitic tropes, he was showing memes that showed violence and all of this election-denying, pro-Trump, MAGA-crowd rhetoric. That’s what we’re dealing with here,” Ms. Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I just don’t think people should be making money off of passing on this stuff that’s a bunch of lies.”
One of Mr. Musk’s first acts after taking over last week was ousting top executives, and users quickly flooded the site with racist and antisemitic posts to test the platform’s new boundaries.
He plans to end lifetime bans, including those against prominent figures like former President Donald Trump.
Ms. Klobuchar said that Twitter and other companies, such as TV networks, should be required to screen commercials for false information before they are posted or aired.
SEE ALSO: Elon Musk’s ‘for cause’ firings of Twitter execs negate multimillion-dollar payouts
“That is not a requirement of these companies. And we have to change the requirements on these companies,” she said. “They’re making money off of us. They’re making money off of this violence.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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