, Columnist
Elon Musk’s Community Notes Feature on X Is Working
Crowdsourced fact-checking is better at curtailing misinformation than content moderation.
Give credit where it’s due.
Photographer: Apu Gomes/Getty ImagesAfter Elon Musk bought Twitter (now X) in the spring of 2022, the social media company got rid of many of its behind-the-scenes moderators, slashed the system whereby users could flag tweets for review, and ramped up a different system to fight misinformation — a form of crowdsourcing called Community Notes.
A wave of outrage followed these changes. But the Community Notes feature has the benefit of transparency and shows scientific and medical merit. And a new academic review suggests it’s working — a least for scientific issues.