Elon Musk’s tumultuous tenure at
Musk has faced a number of controversies since taking over Twitter (formerly the site) in October 2022, including his treatment of staff, mass layoffs at the company and the site’s changing approach to moderation.
The glitch caught the attention of regulators and advertisers, leaving X in the precarious position of facing regulatory penalties, including fines, as well as dealing with declining advertising revenue heading into 2024.
One of the most pressing issues of the new year will be the European Union’s investigation into X for alleged violations of the platform’s rules in many areas, including stopping illegal content and disinformation.
The cases were brought under the Digital Services Act (DSA), tough new technology laws introduced by the EU that require the largest platforms to protect their users against excessive and harmful content.
Failure to do so could mean large fines or suspension of a service in the EU; Consequences that X cannot afford to face.
The EU first began investigating X in October over the possible dissemination of terrorist and violent content following the conflict in Gaza, and X said it had removed hundreds of accounts from the platform.
It has now launched a formal investigation and also wants to examine the effectiveness of the site’s Community Notes feature, which allows others to comment on the accuracy of posts; X and Mr. Musk suggest it helps combat disinformation.
The findings of this investigation could trigger major upheaval for Mr. Musk and X.
But since Mr. Musk completed his takeover, questions have arisen about excessive material on the site.
While a number of watchdogs and online safety groups have repeatedly flagged concerns about the free flow of harmful and abusive posts, Mr Musk has been criticized for his free speech approach to managing the site and for firing most of the site’s moderators.
It has also been criticized for allowing previously banned users, including far-right figures such as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Tommy Robinson, to return to the platform and repost or engage with controversial posts.
With the UK’s Online Safety Act now in force and likely to come into force towards the end of the year, X may face further regulatory questions in the coming months.
But the scrutiny doesn’t just come from regulators; As a result, many advertisers withdrew from the platform; Mr Musk accused a US campaign group of trying to kill the social network, claiming the site was driving away advertisers. Antisemitic by not removing hateful content.
Mr. Musk has himself acknowledged that an exodus of advertisers has cost the social media company “billions” of dollars in revenue, and in an interview in early December he acknowledged that an advertiser boycott could even push the firm into bankruptcy.
As a result, in 2024 it’s likely that to online payments, entertainment and other products and services.
X has already launched a number of new subscription-based options, and Mr. Musk introduced a new voice and video calling service this year.
Meanwhile, the billionaire began broadcasting himself playing video games on the site more frequently; some commenters suggested that this was an attempt to encourage more X users to follow suit and rival apps like Twitch.
All this turbulence comes at a time when the site is potentially preparing to face one of its biggest tests in years — and certainly since Mr. Musk took over — in the form of several major elections.
2024 will see some of the world’s largest democracies go to the polls, including the US and possibly the UK, with general elections expected to be held before January 2025.
X is likely to play a key role in getting messages out to the public, just as it did in past elections when it was known as Twitter.
But concerns about the site’s ability to combat misinformation and disinformation, and indeed fears in some quarters that Mr. Musk’s mantra of absolute freedom of expression would allow fake and misleading content to appear online, could have significant implications.
UK Technology Minister Michelle Donelan said the Government was working with social media companies to put in place “robust mechanisms” in time for the next election to stop fake material spreading online.
But any misinformation incident ahead of any major election would likely further increase pressure on Mr Musk to change his approach at X in what is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the company and Mr Musk himself.