‘Sends and spews lies’: Joe Biden slams Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter

United States President Joe Biden has criticised Elon Musk’s decision to acquire Twitter, by saying that the world’s richest person bought an outfit that sends and spews lies across the world.

“Now what are we all worried about? Elon Musk goes out and buys an outfit that sends and spews lies all across the world,” Biden said during a fundraiser event in Chicago on Friday, news agency Bloomberg reported.

“There are no editors anymore,” Biden said, adding “how do we expect kids to be able to understand what is at stake?”

Elon Musk acquired Twitter for a massive $44 billion earlier this month. The chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla and SpaceX had said he acquired the social media giant because it was important to the future of civilisation to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs could be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.

“Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences! In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences,” Musk tweeted a day before he acquired Twitter.

Shortly after the acquisition, some users began conspiracy theories recirculating including the Covid pandemic and the 2020 United States Presidential election in an attempt to test Twitter’s policies on misinformation were still being enforced.

Musk himself became a victim of fake news after he tweeted a conspiracy theory about the attack on US house speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi.