[News Terms] Musk on X Censorship: 'Cherry Picking'

Criticism of Selective and Opaque Attitude Toward Post Censorship
Content Deletion Requests: Decide After Considering Whether to Buy an Electric Car

Elon Musk aggressively responds to government demands regarding censorship of his social media platform X (formerly Twitter), but at the same time, he is criticized for showing selective and opaque attitudes.

According to the Financial Times (FT) on the 12th (local time), X recently resisted government demands in Brazil, India, and Australia to delete content deemed illegal or harmful.

Elon Musk.
Photo by AP/ Yonhap News

When the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered the blocking of certain accounts, Musk attacked Alexandre de Moraes, the president of the Brazilian Supreme Court, calling him a "dictator." When the Australian government demanded that violent footage from Sydney be blocked worldwide, Musk referred to Australia's online safety commissioner as a "censorship commissioner."

However, Musk took a subtle stance in India, where he has significant interests related to the construction of Tesla electric vehicle factories, complying with government demands while also disclosing related information.

Regarding X's response, some critics accuse Musk of "cherry picking" by selectively adopting only what benefits him. Nu Wexler of Four Corners Public Affairs, who worked in Twitter's policy communications, pointed out, "If Musk publicly discloses government demands based on unclear criteria, it is cherry picking, choosing only what is advantageous." Critics argue that when governments request content removal, X decides its stance based on whether the country will purchase electric vehicles.

"Cherry picking" is a general term for selecting only the good parts from a subject. It originates from the act of picking only the ripe cherries from a cherry tree while leaving the rest untouched.

It is a marketing term meaning customers selectively purchase specific brands or products. In finance, it refers to investing in undervalued stocks or assets compared to their value or selectively including only high-quality assets in certain funds. In logic, it denotes the fallacy of selectively choosing favorable evidence while hiding unfavorable evidence to maintain an argument (a biased interpretation).

During the 2016 Brexit negotiations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel used this term to imply that the UK could not cherry-pick only the favorable outcomes from leaving the European Union.

Since Musk took over, questions about transparency regarding government content removal requests have been raised about X. Some claim that under Musk's leadership, X is less likely to take legal action against government takedown requests than before.