X has removed the option to report misinformation

In this day and age of the internet where almost everyone has access to it, the spreading of misinformation has become more rampant than ever, with anyone basically being able to say whatever they want online.

Social media platforms have tried to combat this by introducing features like context, debunking certain claims, or allowing users to report these misleading posts. Unfortunately for X, it seems that a recent change has removed the option for users to report posts for containing misinformation.

This change was initially discovered by Australian digital research group Reset.Australia in an open letter to the company. The group found that options to report posts for hate speech, abuse and harassment, and child safety and privacy were still there, but there is no option to report posts for being misleading.

This can be dangerous in this information age where accessing accurate information is more critical than ever. Many social media platforms already struggle with misinformation and fake news, but at least having the option to report a post allows the community to help with that.

It is unclear why the company has decided to remove that option, although admittedly under Elon Musk’s lead, X has been making some rather questionable choices that feels rather anti-user, like giving everyone the ability to pay to get the once-coveted blue tick, and recently there have also been talks about charging users a monthly subscription to use the platform.

Source: MobileSyrup