Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has resulted in chaos, mass layoffs and foundational changes to the platform. During election times, when campaigning reaches fever pitch, coverage is in a frenzy and pundits espouse daily hot takes, a stable information ecosystem is critical. And Musk’s Twitter has become anything but.

After taking ownership of Twitter in October, Musk laid off half of Twitter staff globally, starting with CEO Parag Agrawal and other high-profile executives. Since then Musk has been announcing changes, policies and proclamations almost daily.

Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has resulted in chaos, mass layoffs and foundational changes to the platform.Credit:Getty

The most significant of these updates is a change in Twitter’s verification system. Twitter’s “blue tick” verification was given to profiles of public interest, primarily so that Twitter users know they are authentic. These were awarded to those with public profiles who may be in danger of impersonation – celebrities, politicians, journalists, businesses and public service departments.

Getting a blue tick was not easy. Twitter had a strict set of criteria and a limited set of categories a verified profile could fall into. You had to provide proof of identification, have independent references that link to your work, and had to be an active Twitter user that complied with their rules and policies. This rigorous vetting process proved your authenticity.

But it was more than just proof of authenticity, verification was also a signal of credibility. In the shouty, lightning-fast updates on Twitter, the blue tick was reassurance that certain profiles represented credible sources. This is of particular significance when it comes to breaking news, accurate reporting and public service information.

Without such verification, it would have been impossible to know what official health advice to follow during the pandemic, which policy announcement is an official one from politicians, or whether celebrity antics are real or just made-up gossip from deranged fans. Although imperfect, it was still a way of signifying trust.

Musk’s current strategy of allowing anyone to gain verification by paying $8 a month blows this trust out of the water. By allowing anyone to be verified, it means that trust can be bought, not earned. This spells calamity for events that require widespread sharing of accurate information – like elections, natural disasters, public health emergencies and global news.

Disinformation and propaganda will become rife, as anyone with the means will be legitimised by simply paying the verification fee. Bot developers, content farms and bad actors will no longer need to hide in the shadows, as their initial obstacle for recognition – legitimacy – has been removed.

Even if there are still moderation policies in place to combat these (and Musk has also announced reforms to overall moderation), it would be much more difficult to sift through genuine user profiles and those impersonating or puppeteering others.

Musk got a first-hand taste of this as Twitter users began hilariously changing their profile names and pictures to impersonate him en masse, after he announced that parody accounts would be banned.

Musk has paused this new form of verification until after the US midterm elections, although he is not even pretending to have any objectivity in the matter, as he openly urged people to vote Republican during the midterms. But elections in other countries wouldn’t even factor in his consideration set.

The upcoming Victorian state election therefore, could be swamped with a Twitter platform that is in utter chaos, millions of people adjusting to the new changes, no one being able to distinguish who is who, and making it very difficult to differentiate between news and misinformation, fact from fiction, hearsay from reality.

Premier Daniel Andrews has already been a target of co-ordinated disinformation campaigns, particularly during lockdown periods, and is a favourite subject for conspiracy theories. A recent one includes a conspiracy calling into question the circumstances around the fall that injured him last year.

In this new, bewildering Twitter universe, these campaigns and conspiracies will only proliferate, as trust in Twitter’s verified profiles is shattered.

In our already fractured and fragile public square, the last thing we need is an unhinged billionaire with no respect for a healthy and democratic information ecosystem.

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