‘Toxic interactions’: Musk responds to ABC’s exit from Twitter

Elon Musk has taken a swipe at the ABC as the public broadcaster makes a mass retreat from the tech billionaire’s social media platform.

Tech billionaire and Twitter owner Elon Musk has taken a swipe at Australia’s public broadcaster after it announced it would be reducing its presence on the platform.

ABC heads cited “multiple reasons,” which included an increase in “toxic interactions” on Twitter.

Musk, who has radically overhauled the platform since acquiring it in 2022, responded, accusing the ABC of preferencing censorship.

“Well of course they prefer censorship-friendly social media. The Australian public does not,” he tweeted.

G’day! Just a quick note from us to let you know we have archived this account.
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— ABC Sydney (@abcsydney) August 9, 2023

X owner Elon Musk has taken a swipe at the ABC for its decision reduce its presence on the platform. Picture: Alain Jocard / AFP

As of Wednesday, all official ABC accounts, excluding @abcnews, @abcsport, @abcchinese and the master @abcaustralia, have been “archived”, although some appear to be still posting.

A statement from the ABC explained the decision.

“There are multiple reasons for this decision. In February, we closed three program accounts, for Insiders, News Breakfast and ABC Politics, and the results of that have been positive,” it read.

“Insiders has seen an increase in reach and engagement for its posts on the main @abcnews account.

Well of course they prefer censorship-friendly social media.

The Australian public does not.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 9, 2023

The statement said “the vast majority” of ABC’s social media audience engages with the broadcaster through YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

“We want to focus our effort and resources on where our audiences are,” he added.

Staff welfare, new costs and moderation concerns were also cited in the statement, which said the frequency of “toxic interactions” was increasing on the platform.

“We also found that closing individual program accounts helps limit the exposure of team members to the toxic interactions that unfortunately are becoming more prevalent on X,” the ABC added.

The ABC cites ‘toxic interactions’ among its decision to close a large number of its accounts. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

“Concerningly, X has reduced its trust and safety teams. Additionally, it is introducing charges which make the platform increasingly costly to use.”

Several global news organisations abandoned the platform earlier this year after Musk’s decision to label some news organisations as “government-funded media”, “publicly funded media”, or “state-affiliated media.”

ABC accounts leaving the platform show this note.

The ABC was among others to express discontent at its labelling at the time.

“Our goal is simply to be as truthful and accurate as possible,” Musk told BBC after it objected to its “government-funded media” label.

The labels have since been dropped.