A clip purporting to show Twitter CEO Elon Musk talking about social media personality Andrew Tate’s reinstatement on Twitter has been altered from 2022 footage of Musk discussing a different topic.
The clip circulating online seemingly shows Musk saying: “People ask me why I unblocked Andrew Tate from Twitter. It’s the same reason why I bought Twitter. We need to escape the suppression from the matrix and expose the global elites. Andrew Tate has been offered one billion dollars to shut his mouth but since he declined, they threw him in jail.” Twitter reinstated Tate’s account late last year.
An example the clip can be viewed (here).
The clip is altered, however, augmenting Musk’s visuals and audio to make it appear that he was discussing Tate’s reinstatement to the platform.
The original video footage shows Musk in a live-streamed conversation with the head of TED Talks, Chris Anderson, on April 14, 2022 (bit.ly/3YSUyAx). Anderson and Musk discussed various topics including his plan for Twitter, entrepreneurship and the future of sustainable energy.
The 54-minute recording contains no mention of Andrew Tate. Reuters also did not find any credible media reporting that Musk discussed Andrew Tate at the 2022 TED Talk (archive.is/wip/8I6Iw).
Comparing the altered clip to the TED Talk video, the backdrop and Musk’s clothing match. Musk’s facial and eye movements viewable from timecode 13.04s of the TED Talk video, where he was discussing his intention to open-source the Twitter algorithm, also closely match the altered clip where Musk appears to discuss Tate.
A close comparison between frames of the altered clip online and this segment of the TED Talk can be seen (04s on altered clip compared to 13.08s on TED Talk ibb.co/3MrH71t) and (14s on altered clip compared to 13.15s: ibb.co/B3n7VKZ).
Reuters previously addressed another clip of Musk, based on the same authentic footage from the 2022 TED conversation, but manipulated to make it appear that he expressed his intent to buy Meta (here).
A spokesperson for Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
VERDICT
Altered. The original video shows Musk discussing his intention to open-source the Twitter algorithm, not reinstating Andrew Tate’s Twitter account.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts (here).
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.