News Review
14 MARCH 2025 ausdoc . com . au
Elon Musk ’ s X factor and the tinfoil hats
GETTY IMAGES
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump ( left ).
FOR some , it is a seething malignancy of vitriolic hate laced with fake news and tinfoil conspiracy theories — a virtual reality fostering a new species of human stupidity .
In more recent times , it has been seen as a mechanism for authoritarian control , a town square menaced , in the words of former RACGP president Adjunct Clinical Professor Karen Price , by thuggery .
So should doctors be spending their time on Elon Musk ’ s X platform , the social network formerly known as Twitter ?
Are they not just wasting their time ? Or is walking away the sleep of reason that produces monsters ?
The Pasteur Institute for biomedical research , whose scientists were the first to isolate the HIV virus as well as develop the first effective TB vaccine , announced it was leaving the social media platform in January .
Heather Saxena ( left ) Chief reporter Mohana Basu ( centre ) Senior reporter Paul Smith ( right ) Editor
The Pasteur Institute believes misinformation on X is a growing threat to science .
It cited the swamp of misinformation on X since it was purchased by Musk in 2022 for $ US44 billion .
The institute encouraged others to follow , saying it was sounding the “ alarm
about the growing threats that are jeopardising the practice of science and the responsible exercise of free speech ”.
“ The Institut Pasteur is extremely concerned by the influence exerted by Elon Musk ,” it said in a statement .
“ Over and above the clear bias introduced in this space under the guise of freedom of expression , we condemn the ideas that are promoted in this way , many of which are spreading disinformation and which we feel are incompatible with the principles of rationality , humanism and diversity that we have upheld at the Institut Pasteur for many years .”
It went on to accuse Musk of orchestrating a campaign to “ weaken democracies and destabilise Europe ’ s institutional foundations , legal systems and unifying ethical principles ”.
Jumping ship
There have been a number of individuals and medical organisations that have jumped ship since Musk ’ s arrival .
Among them is Professor Trish Greenhalgh , professor of primary care health sciences at the University of Oxford .
‘ The final straw was that Musk turned X into his personal megaphone , and it quickly became overtly political .’
The GP used Twitter throughout the pandemic , including discussing evidence for masking and the COVID-19 vaccinations , but says she is dismayed by how far X has digressed from a platform where scientific debate can thrive .
“ I joined Twitter because it was the ultimate town square : lots of lively and congenial discussions on both work topics
( for me , medicine and health ) and fun / hobby topics ( for me , wild swimming , knitting , sourdough breadmaking ),” Professor Greenhalgh tells Australian Doctor .
“ I built up a great network of followers — some of whom agreed with me and some of whom did not , but the pushbacks were almost always good-natured and took me to places I would not have gone to if I had been in a narrow bubble .” But then the platform “ lost its buzz ”. She noticed her posts were getting less traction despite having a blue tick — originally the mark that Twitter considered her posts to be of public interest .
Post Musk ’ s takeover , the blue tick changed ; it now signals that the user has paid at least $ US8 ($ 13 ) a month for a subscription to X Premium . She was shedding followers by the day , no matter how often people who had been booted from her followers list re-followed her .
“ In other words , someone had loaded the algorithm against me ,” Professor Greenhalgh says .
“ The platform changed , obviously . People were rude , immature , dull and sometimes threatening , although never to the extent that I was scared .
“ It was just tedious , like being in a pub next to a table of 14-year-olds .”
So she “ nuked ” her X account last November .
She now posts on Bluesky , an alternative network , which she joined in 2023 when she saw the writing on the wall .