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Rumman Chowdhury , a information scientist , nonprofit founder , and former director of Twitter ’s machine ethics squad , had potent run-in for Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency ( DOGE)during a panel at SXSW on Thursday .
“ When your funding is icy and you do n’t make love if you ’re gon na be fired , and there ’s this , like , absolutely unhinged person say weird things on the internet constantly , you still have to do your job , correct ? ” Chowdhury said . “ The light have to be kept on because Elon Musk is not the one keeping the lightness on , even though he would like you to think that . ”
Musk and DOGE , which Musk is send word , have hotfoot to cut faculty across U.S. Union way , in some character in ways thatcompromise cybersecurity . The initiative has gutted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , reduce headcount at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , and fire probationary employees at the Federal Aviation Administration , among others . Chowdhury fears the brain drain resulting from the dramatic reduction and disorderly direction style . She says she saw a interchangeable trend at Twitter back in 2022 , whenMusk acquired the chopine for $ 43 billion . Chowdhury was one of many staff let go at scant notice after Musk ’s takeover .
“ So some approximation say about 20 % of [ Twitter ] had already left before [ Musk ] even took over , and then he fired another 30 % on top of that , right ? ” Chowdhury tell . “ So we ’re verbalise a fully grown chunk of the caller being just gone , whether of their own willing or not , but I think the most important matter was that just the looming shadow of [ Musk ’s ] universe completely kill the culture of Twitter . ”
Chowdhury sum , “ [ I]t ’s scary to see that go on to the U.S. government , an mental institution that weigh significantly in every American ’s life and even to multitude beyond American border . Twitter was a company , yes — it was an impactful society , but it ’s not the same as a authorities . [ … ] [ Musk ] breeds chaotic surround , and chaos is not where good body of work happens . ”
Chowdhury also took issue with Musk ’s vision for Twitter — now X — which she said ties in with his overture to politics . She accused Musk of using X as a propaganda putz for his own ideology — a “ megaphone ” to push his view to the world .
“ Like , I do n’t think there ’s any disputation or discussion to be had here , ” Chowdhury said . “ I do n’t retrieve [ former Twitter CEO ] Jack Dorsey acted anywhere near the way of life Elon Musk [ has ] — he was not on Twitter every twenty-four hour period with his opinion , obstruct people , you know , amplifying others , calling some multitude terrorists — like , Jack did not represent that fashion . ”
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One report foundthat Musk shared deceptive claims about the 2024 U.S. presidential election that were viewed about 1.2 billion times on X. In posts this year , Musk has repeatedlymade pretended assertionsabout federal spending , Ukrainian aggression , and therole of officeslike the Federal Emergency Management Agency .
Musk hasgone so far as to questionX ’s own fact - checking system , Community Notes , after it correct posts on X that claimed Volodymyr Zelenskyy , the country ’s elect president , had gloomy favourable reception ratings among its citizen . “ alas , Community Notes is increasingly being gamed by government activity and bequest medium , ” Muskclaimed without evidence in a post .
