Elon Musk’s X has disabled a feature that let users report misinformation about elections, said researchers.
The tool, available in the US, Australia and South Korea since 2021, was expanded to other countries last year.
But Reset.Tech Australia said it was removed in recent weeks, except in the European Union.
In a letter, it called the move “extremely concerning”, as Australia is set to hold a referendum next month.
Australia’s first referendum in almost a quarter century will take place on 14 October. It will decide whether to change the constitution to establish an Indigenous advisory body to parliament.
The move could also affect voters’ ability to report misinformation ahead of the 2024 US presidential elections.
Users can still report posts that they consider to be hateful, abusive or spam.
According to Reset.Tech Australia, the feature remains available in the EU, where a recent study suggests that X has the biggest proportion of disinformation of the six big social networks.
The European Commission study examined over 6,000 unique social media posts across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, and YouTube.
The platform with the largest “ratio of discoverability” of disinformation – meaning the proportion of sensitive content made up of disinformation – was X. YouTube had the lowest, the study suggested.
In the EU, tech giants must comply with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), which is designed to protect users and stop election interference.
Since Mr Musk took over X or Twitter, as it was then known, in late 2022, the company has been accused of allowing a rise in hate speech and misinformation. Mr Musk denied this in a BBC interview.
He has argued that the platform’s “Community Notes” feature, which allows users to comment on posts to flag false or misleading content, is a better way of fact checking.
The BBC has approached X for comment.
