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Not his favorite: Biden bashes Elon Musk and Twitter for spreading ‘lies all across the world’

President Joe Biden criticized Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter during a campaign rally in Illinois on Friday, warning the new ownership would lead to the spread of “lies all across the world.”

The president lamented Musk’s suggestion that he would roll back Twitter’s content moderation policies, arguing it would lead to a spread of misinformation on the site.

Biden’s concerns have been echoed by several others who have criticized Musk’s new ownership, claiming it would lead to a platform of hate speech and disinformation.

“Elon Musk goes out and buys an outlet that sends — that spews lies all across the world,” Biden said during a campaign event for Reps. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) and Sean Casten (D-IL). “There are no editors anymore in America. … How do we expect kids to be able to understand what is at stake? What is at stake? So there’s a lot going on, a lot going on. But we have an enormous opportunity.”

Musk has repeatedly said he intends to roll back some of the social media platform’s content moderation policies but has maintained it would not devolve into “a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.” The billionaire later announced he would create a council to oversee content moderation, noting “no major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”

Musk’s leadership has raised concerns for several, prompting a group of more than 40 organizations to pen a letter to Twitter’s top advertisers, calling on the companies to stop financing the platform because it has become “inundated with hate and disinformation.” Meanwhile, several conservatives have celebrated Musk’s ownership, lamenting Twitter’s censorship policies and arguing they unfairly target right-leaning content.

The new Twitter CEO has defended his policies, arguing “accurate information” would never be blocked or censored from the platform.

“The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,” Musk wrote in an open letter. “There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right-wing and far left-wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.”