X it reached the top of Apple’s App Store as the most downloaded free app — and owner Elon Musk immediately posted the result on social media. But he forgot to explain why. No new AI features or possibilities for influencers on the platform: to push i download on Xinstead it is the hashtag “drakevideo” — because the former Twitter has not tarnished a non-consensual nude video which seems to have the rapper as its protagonist Drake. A failure (or late) moderation of content, which comes not even a week after the scandal deep fake di Taylor Swift.
Drake’s naked video takes X to first place for downloads: the lack of moderation pays off
At the moment we don’t know if the video shows Drake half naked and in the middle of a sexual act be it real, a deepfake or simply footage of another person. The Canadian rapper has not yet commented on the matter. What is certain is that the hashtag #drakevideo was trending yesterday in the United States, where X jumped to the top of downloads for iOS devices. And Elon Musk was quick to boast about it.
Musk not only celebrated X’s position at the top of the App Store, but as The Verge reports, he also wrote: “If I had a dollar for every time the media reported that one of my companies was dying, I would never need to raise money“. Failing to grasp the connection between the increase in downloads and the scandals surrounding Drake today, and Taylor Swift last week.
Stolen videos and the problem of always late moderation
X (even when it was called Twitter before Musk’s arrival) has always allowed the publication of pornographic content — one of the few social networks to allow it. But only if they are legal: made by consenting adults, who gave permission for publication. Instead, in both the case of the Taylor Swift deep fakes and the leaked Drake video, both X policies and US regulations prohibit distribution and require immediate removal. The problem lies not in the rules, but in X’s ability to enforce them.
X spokesperson Joe Benarroch responded to the latest events, stating that the app is “fully committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all users.” He underlined a “policy of zero tolerance” for sharing non-consensual nude images. Benarroch said that X has already taken action on thousands of infringing posts, and the company is “actively monitoring” the situation to remove further offending posts.
However, the validity of these claims has been questioned by The Verge, which discovered seven posts containing the Drak’s alleged nude videoand, some with millions of views, despite X’s official statements. The late response, as in the case of Taylor Swift, meant that many other users also downloaded and shared the video on other platforms: forums, Telegram chats. Perhaps, even with an immediate response from X the video would have circulated. But late moderation made the job easier for those who wanted to share the non-consensual video.
Musk’s role in failed or late moderation
There is more than one reason why Drake’s images circulated on X and not on other social networks. The first concerns the use of artificial intelligence: other platforms don’t allow porn, so they have bots that recognize explicit nudity and sexual acts, which they immediately put online. They are not perfect, they can make mistakes. But they do a first skimming.
The second instead concerns the human workforce. After buying the then Twitter in 2022, Elon Musk has soon cut the teams responsible for content moderation and the security features of the site. Of the 7,500 employees laid off in one fell swoop in November 2022, most were moderating speech on the platform. Musk said at the time that AI would be enough. Today it seems clear that this is not the case.
In two weeks, two major music stars saw non-consensual nude videos circulating (at least one of them a deep fake), and they had to see the far from rapid response from ? Maybe Musk should celebrate hitting #1 on the App Store hiring new moderators. Provided that the diffusion of non-consensual nudes does not become the new marketing strategy of the social network.
