Overview

• Elon Musk's restructuring of X, formerly Twitter, has resulted in over 100 canceled, suspended, or changed studies on disinformation.
• Musk's limitations on data access have compromised researchers' ability to track the origin and spread of false information in real-time events.
• The company's decision to end free academic access to an API tool, which provided data on approximately 10 million tweets per month, has led to notable losses in research capabilities.
• More than 50% of surveyed researchers fear legal action from X due to their findings or use of data, following a lawsuit filed by X against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
• Restrained research abilities and fear of legal repercussions have sparked concerns for global research on disinformation ahead of a major election year.