Recently, liberal billionaire and left-leaning comedian Jon Stewart mocked Elon Musk during an episode of \u201cThe Daily Show\u201d after the multi-company CEO hosted an interview with former President Donald Trump on his social media platform X.\u00a0 However, Musk would have the last word, informing them about how the algorithm on X works.<\/p>\n
Cuban and Stewart insinuated that Musk had nefarious motives in his takeover of X in late 2022, suggesting he was attempting to use his power to influence public discourse.\u00a0 However, Musk, a staunch free-speech advocate, has maintained that he will protect freedom of expression from any side of the aisle on his platform.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, look at Elon, right?\u00a0 Elon, in being one of the most powerful people, he\u2019s trying to be the most influential man in the world \u2014 it sounds like a commercial \u2014 but literally, that\u2019s what Twitter has given him,\u201d Cuban said.\u00a0 Stewart weighed in,\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve gotta say, I think he might be that.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even think he\u2019s trying to be. When you talk about somebody who is setting up satellite links for war zones and also controlling discourse in the most important media platform, he is the most powerful.\u201d
\nCuban further suggested, \u201cCause Twitter is in almost every country, right? And so Twitter gives him the ability to connect to the prime minister, the head of every country in the world. And that person, whoever\u2019s in charge of that country, has an interest in what happens on Twitter, and what happens on Twitter, because of the control of the algorithms, being the biggest user, is all dependent on Elon Musk. He literally, wherever his thumb wants to go, he gets to push as hard as he wants.\u201d
\nStewart then claimed that Musk is concerned about the prospect of civil war, particularly for white Americans.\u00a0 \u201cI think he\u2019s very clear that civil war is inevitable, and that white people are under the gun,\u201d he said.\u00a0 Cuban added, \u201cFrightening, concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The billionaire proceeded to comment on the algorithm behind X.\u00a0 \u201cWhen you write an algorithm \u2014 I haven\u2019t written a lot, it\u2019s been a while \u2014 but when you write one, you get to set the parameters of what you want to see happen. And he certainly has done that to the things he likes,\u201d he continued. Stewart commented, \u201cBut isn\u2019t this a certain amount of tech bro malpractice, that there is this incredible need in the marketplace of something that is slightly less biased or \u2026 toxic?\u201d<\/p>\n
Musk addressed the critical commentary toward him on X, offering insight into how the platform really works. \u201cThat was hilarious\u00a0![\"\ud83d\ude02\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/svg\/1f602.svg\")
\u00a0Unlike the other platforms, our algorithm is open source! And if you interact and argue with \u2018right wing\u2019 accounts, which Cuban does a lot, the algorithm will assume that\u2019s what you *want* to do and give you more of it lmao,\u201d he\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
Watch Cuban and Stewart below:<\/p>\n