Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has added a note providing context to a tweet from Senator Elizabeth Warren regarding cryptocurrency use in financial crimes.
Following Senator Warren’s Jan. 21 post citing a United States Government Accountability Office report in which the lawmaker claimed “rogue nations are using crypto to dodge sanctions,” X contributors added a Community Note. According to the note provided with “context they thought people might want to know,” a U.S. Treasury report from February 2022 stated, “Fiat is the preferred currency for financial crimes.”
The seeming rebuke of Senator Warren’s claims on the social media platform was a rare occurrence amid many anti-crypto posts during her time in office. On both X and in person at congressional hearings, the Massachusetts senator has often suggested that digital assets are overwhelmingly used for illicit purposes.
According to X’s Help Center, Community Notes are publicly visible to all U.S. users and aim to “add context to potentially misleading posts.” The feature was developed at Twitter before Elon Musk purchased the company, but he also promoted the program as part of efforts to fight disinformation on social media.
Related: Elon Musk says posts busted by Community Notes won’t earn revenue share
Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter in October 2022, he has used his account to post antisemitic and misleading messages sometimes. The watchdog group Media Matters released a report in November 2023 showing that X advertisements for large firms could be featured alongside pro-Nazi content under certain search conditions.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin praised the Community Notes program, calling it an example of “crypto values.” In August 2023, X contributors used the tool to correct claims that Friend.tech leaked the personal information of more than 100,000 of its users.
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