I've been fact-checking on Twitter for years, and there's always plenty of misinformation during major events.
But the deluge of false posts in the last two days, many boosted via Twitter Blue, is something else.
Neither fact-checkers nor Community Notes can keep up with this.
This kind of degradation was always the end goal of Musk taking over Twitter, IMO. The coverage of the new Gaza war is just collateral damage; the next US presidential election is where it'll have the biggest impact. (Likely intentionally so.)
@IntelCrab I agree.
It’s also ridiculous that if you want to list sources, there is a decent chance that your post will get less visibility due to “external links”, especially if a website is deemed as “competition”. I always try to imbed them into images.
For many reasons, this is the hardest time I've ever had covering a crisis on here.
Credible links are now photos. On the ground news outlets struggle to reach audiences without an expensive blue checkmark. Xenophobic goons are boosted by the platform's CEO.
End times, folks.
@DemeryUK This move is pretty out there. The headlines thing came first, the ads are literally the exact same format, only difference is they aren’t posted by an account. I’ve head over to bsky
Wasn’t Netanyahu supposed to be the strongman that would keep Israel safe? He’s been so busy dismantling democracy he completely missed the invasion plan. Turns out doing a coalition with extremists & making a fanatic your security minister isn’t great security policy.
the one time the IDF could actually be useful in defending against terror attacks and not just striking civilian areas with abandon and they're suddenly not up to it.
GeoConfirmed UKR Update.
Remember, it's not because another conflict emerges that our team suddenly stops with tracking previous conflicts. All the geolocations are handled by our volunteers and added to the proper maps.
Ukraine - Russia: 378 (!) geolocations in the last 10 days.
So over 378 video's are geolocated and that is only a fraction of the footage that emerges which is only a fraction of what is happening on the ground.
https://t.co/6WtYND1t1F
BATTLES FOR MARINKA CONTINUE!
🔥| Fighters of the 🇺🇦Ukrainian 79th Air Assault Brigade watch the Russian T-90M "Breakthrough" burn
‼️Russians have not been able to take control of this settlement for 9 years
Source: https://t.co/C89eCRaIGL
Over on Bluesky someone used a term (correctly). Someone else emotionally objected. They talked about it. An apology was issued. The matter was settled.
Signs and wonders.
Musk Twitter isn't just useless today, it's actively harmful. Conspiracy theories, disinformation, hate speech, fake images, and graphic pictures and videos are being shared at will by verified accounts making ad money off their lies and the trauma of others. See y'all later.