Elon Musk’s ‘Classy’ Response to Mark Cuban’s Concerns Over Twitter Influence
Mark Cuban has been a vocal critic of how Musk runs X. Photo by Quinn Harris / Getty Images.
Key Takeaways
- Mark Cuban criticized Musk’s management of X on the Daily Show.
- Cuban claims changes to the platform’s feed and recommendation algorithm favor right-wing perspectives.
- Responding to the comments, Musk called Cuban “a giant 💩 in human form.”
If money equals power, then it follows that the richest man in the world is also the most powerful.
But although the likes of Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates have certainly used their billions to shape global affairs, Mark Cuban commented that since buying Twitter, Elon Musk has amassed an “unprecedented” level of power and influence.
Mark Cuban Doubles Down on X Criticism
Cuban’s comments, made during an episode of The Daily Show with John Stewart, build on a history of criticism of Musk and his management of X.
During a social media spat between the two men in May, Cuban accused Musk of erroneously claiming to support free speech while simultaneously “[putting] his thumb on the scale” to promote his own views on X.
Expanding on his concerns, Cuban said the platform’s recommendation algorithm created a snowball effect that ensures Musk’s posts get the most exposure while suppressing diversity of opinion.
Cuban’s criticism reflects a commonly held view that the political mood on X has moved significantly to the right since Musk took over.
Twitter’s Journey to the Right
Twitter’s rightward shift has to be viewed in the context of freedom of expression and the moderation policies imposed on the platform when it was operated as a public company.
When Musk bought Twitter, it was embroiled in controversies over Donald Trump’s ban and the perceived suppression of voices that were critical of Covid lockdowns and vaccination drives. Under his stewardship, however, those same voices have often been amplified.
According to Cuban’s reasoning, the billionaire’s disdain for content moderation has created space for more extreme schools of conservative thought to flourish. In turn, this has led to an exodus of more liberally-minded users, who have abandoned the platform for alternatives such as Meta’s Threads.
Algorithmic Influence
Unlike the previous system, which gave users the option to only see posts from accounts they follow, Musk’s favored model constructs their X feed from a mixture of accounts they follow and generally popular tweets. As the X account with the most followers, this means it is pretty much impossible not to see Musk’s tweets when browsing the platform. Meanwhile, other right-wing influencers have also gained more visibility.
“When you go on X you see a preponderance of right-leaning people,” Cuban claimed. “When you write an algorithm you get to set the parameters of the things that you want to see happen and [Musk] certainly has done that to the things that he likes.”
While Cuban acknowledged that Musk “is going to leverage [his X influence] in this election,” he added the caveat that “he has more impact globally than he does domestically”.
User Numbers Declining
If influence is measured by the number of users, Cuban could have a point.
According to data collated by Sensor Tower, Twitter app usage in the US fell by 23% between November 2022 and February 2024, losing more than a fifth of its American user base under Musk’s tenure. Globally, the platform’s user numbers declined by just 15% in the same period.
That being said, predictions of the platform’s demise may be exaggerated. In 2022, researchers forecast that Twitter’s monthly average users would drop to 335.7 million by 2024. But according to the platform’s latest reported statistics , as of March 2024, an average of 550 million people logged in to X each month.
The discrepancy with Sensor Tower’s data suggests that while app usage has declined, overall traffic has remained more consistent. Other sources also confirm the observation that growth increasingly comes from non-US users.
Elon Claps Back
Responding to Cuban’s comments on Wednesday, Aug. 14, Musk further escalated the beef.
“Mark Cuban is a giant 💩 in human form,” the billionaire commented on a tweet by conservative influencer Western Lensman.
The diss was the latest in a long-running social media dispute between the two men.
Back in March, Musk ridiculed Cuban’s support for President Biden. “’If Biden were a flesh-eating zombie with 5 seconds to live where, upon being re-elected, Earth would plunge into a 1000 years of darkness, I would still vote for him.’ — Mark Cuban,” he tweeted.
Before that, he took aim at Cuban’s support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, calling the Shark Tank star a liar and accusing him of “ridiculous overcompensation regarding racism”.
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