It's true, social media moderators do go after conservatives
Since Elon Musk bought Twitter nearly two years ago – a $44 billion acquisition he tried to pull out of – the mogul has driven a narrative that moderation of the microblogging website disproportionately targeted conservatives, libertarians, and Trump supporters.
A scientific paper published in the journal Nature this week confirms that was the case, with justification. The groups more likely to be subjected to moderation were also more likely to share misinformation from low-quality news sites.
"Concerns of bias against conservatives also contributed to Elon Musk's decision to purchase Twitter in 2022 and to roll back various anti-misinformation policies (such as reinstating many suspended users)," said researchers led by Oxford University associate professor Mohsen Mosleh in the paper.
The research points out that, in the United States, critics claim conservatives and Republicans are purposefully targeted by social media moderators because of their political orientation. For example, Donald Trump said that Twitter "totally silences conservatives' voices," while US congressman Jim Jordan claimed academics, social media platforms, and the government colluded to censor conservatives.
