WASHINGTON –
Elon Musk on Sunday tweeted a link to an unfounded hearsay concerning the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, simply days after Musk’s buy of Twitter fuelled issues that the social media platform would now not search to restrict misinformation and hate speech.
Musk’s tweet, which he later deleted, linked to an article by a fringe web site, the Santa Monica Observer, an outlet that has beforehand asserted that Hillary Clinton died on Sept. 11 and was changed with a physique double.
In this case, the article recycled a baseless declare that the non-public lifetime of Paul Pelosi, the speaker’s husband, by some means performed a job in an intruder’s attack final week within the couple’s San Francisco residence, despite the fact that there is no such thing as a proof to assist that declare.
Musk did so in reply to a tweet by Hillary Clinton. Her tweet had criticized Republicans for typically spreading “hate and deranged conspiracy theories” and stated, “It is stunning, however not shocking, that violence is the end result.”
In response to Clinton’s tweet, Musk offered a link to the Santa Monica Observer article and added, “There is a tiny risk there could be extra to this story than meets the attention.”
The Los Angeles Times, the dominant information group within the Southern California space the place the Observer is positioned, has stated the Observer is “infamous for faux information.”
Police in San Francisco have stated the suspect in final week’s attack, recognized as David DePape, 42, broke into the Pelosi household’s Pacific Heights residence early Friday and confronted Paul Pelosi, demanding to know, because the AP has reported, “Where is Nancy?”
The two males struggled over a hammer earlier than officers responding to a 911 name to the house noticed DePape strike Paul Pelosi a minimum of as soon as, police stated. DePape was arrested on suspicion of tried homicide, elder abuse and robbery. Prosecutors plan to file fees on Monday and count on his arraignment on Tuesday.
Police say the attack was “intentional” and never random however haven’t acknowledged publicly what they take into account to be the motive.
The change between Musk and Clinton occurred a day after Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of security and integrity, tweeted that the corporate’s insurance policies towards “slurs” and “hateful conduct” had been nonetheless in place.
“Bottom line up entrance: Twitter’s insurance policies have not modified. Hateful conduct has no place right here,” Roth wrote.
Musk himself stated Friday that he would kind a “content material moderation council” for Twitter and promised advertisers that the web site wouldn’t devolve right into a “free for all hellscape.” Musk has additionally described himself as a “free speech absolutist.”
But a minimum of one main advertiser, General Motors, has stated it should droop promoting on Twitter whereas it screens the path of the platform beneath Musk.
Also on Sunday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, stated on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that she did not belief Musk to run Twitter.
Referring to antisemitic conspiracy theories that had been superior on-line by DePape, the suspect within the attack, Klobuchar stated, “I believe you might have to have some content material moderation.”
“If Elon Musk has stated now that he is going to begin a content material moderation board,” the senator stated, “that was one good sign. But I proceed to be involved about that. I simply do not assume individuals ought to be getting cash off of passing on these items that is a bunch of lies.”