Elon Musk deletes tweet with conspiracy theory about attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband. Here’s why it is concerning
Twitter's new boss Elon Musk is now active on the social media platform more than ever. And now he can tweet about anything he wants to.
Musk on Sunday (October 30) tweeted an url in reply to a tweet by Hillary Clinton. His tweet and the url talk about an unfounded theory regarding the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at their San Francisco home.
What happened with Paul Pelosi?
- US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul Pelosi was attacked with a hammer at their California home on Friday (September 28).
- President Joe Biden stated that she looked to be the intended target after the attacker, identified by officials as David DePape, allegedly asked: "Where is Nancy?"
- David DePape, 42, was taken into custody on suspicion of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, and burglary. He is expected to be arraigned on November 1.
What did Musk’s Tweet say? The now-deleted tweet by Musk was in reaction to the former Secretary of state Hillary Clinton's tweet. Clinton’s tweet linked to an LA Times article about the suspect's online promotion of far-right conspiracy theories and blamed the attack on the Republican Party's harsh speech.
The Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories. It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result. As citizens, we must hold them accountable for their words and the actions that follow.https://t.co/MQor4NDFeE
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 29, 2022
Musk responded by tweeting that “there is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye,” and shared a link to a post that presented an unfounded conspiracy theory on the hammer attack, the Times reported. This conspiracy post was in the Santa Monica Observer, which the Times described as being “notorious for publishing false news”.
According to the New York Times, Musk tweeted in response, “there is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye", and linked a link to an article that describes a fictitious conspiracy theory regarding the hammer attack. The conspiracy theory was also said to be anti-LGBTQ.
The New York Times noted that the Santa Monica Observer was "notorious for publishing bogus news" when it published this conspiracy theory. Musk deleted the response by early Sunday afternoon, according to NBC News. Prior to its deletion, however, it had received in excess of 24,000 retweets and 86,000 likes.
Why it matters? Musk’s tweet comes just three days after he bought Twitter. Ever since Musk’s takeover, concern over free speech and misinformation on Twitter has clearly risen and now Musk’s deleted tweet has caused more concern.
Americans are also concerned about the possibility of increased violence due to the mid-term elections.
(Do you think you should have complete freedom of speech on Twitter? Let us know in the Comments)