A controversial move by Twitter-owner Elon Musk to end free access to its APIs by February 9 has attracted criticism from the European Union’s top diplomat who has warned it could threaten the ability of researchers to study disinformation at a critical time — with Russia aggressively weaponizing disinformation to try to provide cover for its war in Ukraine.
In a speech today, detailing how the bloc has responded to Russia stepping up online disinformation campaigns since its invasion of Ukraine last February, high commissioner Josep Borrell urged more research into how social media platforms are being used to spread Kremlin propaganda.
“We have to do more research on the social media platforms. Study how [disinformation] flow[s], where does it come from, and which are the results,” he said in the speech to the European Union’s diplomatic service (EEAS).
Borrell singled out...
