Elon Musk shows off his bedside table

Elon Musk took to Twitter on Monday to show off what his nightstand looks like, just weeks after acquiring the social media company.

The 51-year-old billionaire posted the picture of his bedside table on Monday, without context, showing it littered with empty decaf Diet Coke cans and a half-dipped bottle of water.

On the rim was a replica of George Washington’s flintlock pistol, lying in a wooden box of which open lid showed Emanuel Leutze’s famous painting of Washington ccrossing the Delaware River during the American Revolution.

He also had a cosplay pistol modeled after the Diamond Back .357 revolver in the video game Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and what appears to be a Buddhist vajra used to fend off enemies.

Rings of condensation from the empty bottles could be seen on the bedside table, and Musk wrote, “There’s no excuse for my lack of coasters.”

It came just a day after the world’s richest man shared data showing hate speech on Twitter has declined since his $44 billion takeover last month.

The numbers refute reports that hate speech has increased in the wake of Musk taking over the helm of the company.

Musk shared slides over the weekend that showed less hate speech on Twitter between October 17 and November 13.

The CEO also reported that new user signups hit an all-time high over the past week, averaging over two million per day.

Those numbers contrast sharply with previous reports that suggested hate speech increased after Musk acquired the social media giant.

In the week beginning Oct. 31, the first full week under Musk’s ownership, the Center for Countering Digital Hatred claimed that the use of racist, homophobic, transphobic and anti-Semitic slurs increased significantly after he took over on October 27.

It found 26,228 tweets and retweets calling the racial slur n****r, three times the 2022 average.

Nearly 34,000 tweets and retweets also mentioned the slur t****y, up 53 percent from the 2022 average.

And the slur f****t was up 39 percent with 21,903 tweets and retweets, while 2,598 tweets and retweets mentioning the slur k**e, a 23 percent increase over the 2022 average.

More than 1,200 tweets and retweets calling the slur w*g, a 62 percent increase, while 935 tweets and retweets calling the slur s**c, a 67 percent increase over the 2022 average.

The center said the numbers show that the number of hateful tweets had risen — despite claims by Twitter’s Head of Trust and Safety, Yoel Roth, that the company had managed to reduce the number of times hate speech was seen on Twitter’s search and trending page.

Similarly, the European Union released data last week suggesting that Twitter took longer to review hateful content and removed less in 2022 compared to the previous year.

The EU figures were published as part of an annual review of compliance with the 27-country bloc’s code of conduct on disinformation by online platforms, with most other technology companies scoring even worse.

But the numbers could herald trouble for Twitter in complying with the EU’s strict new online rules after owner Musk laid off many of the platform’s 7,500 full-time employees and an untold number of contractors responsible for content moderation and other crucial tasks, has dismissed.

The EU report, conducted over six weeks in the spring, found that Twitter assessed just over half of reports of illegal hate speech received within 24 hours, up from 82 percent in 2021.

By comparison, the amount of flagged material Facebook reviewed within 24 hours dropped to 64 percent, Instagram dropped to 56.9 percent, and YouTube dropped to 83.3 percent, while TikTok came in at 92 percent, the only company to improve.

The amount of hate speech Twitter removed after being flagged fell from 49.8 percent the year before to 45.4 percent.

TikTok’s takedown rate fell by a quarter to 60 percent, while Facebook and Instagram saw only minor drops. Only YouTube’s removal rate rose to 90 percent.

Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last month fueled widespread concern that purveyors of lies and misinformation could flourish on the site.

The ban on former US President Donald Trump’s twitter, along with the Twitter Blue fiasco that allowed everyone to be verified, has seen Musk get into the firing line.

But Musk claims user numbers remain at an all-time high, tweeting on Saturday that user sign-ups were at an all-time high as many Twitter users searched for an alternative platform.

Meanwhile, a coalition of more than 60 civil rights and civil society groups is pressuring brands advertising on the social media platform to boycott.

The Stop Toxic Twitter Coalition swung into action after Twitter owner Elon Musk lifted the suspension of former US President Donald Trump’s account, which had been banned following the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

On the group’s website, the group has called on all of Twitter’s top advertisers to “terminate” their membership if it “undermines brand safety and community standards.”

Musk must not reverse the basic moderation practices Twitter already has on its books and must invest the resources necessary to enforce those rules.

This means Musk must prioritize making the platform more secure, focusing on ushering in an era where the company has stronger policies to protect users from hate, harassment and toxicity.

“But he does the exact opposite.”

Musk recently complained that pressure from the activists had already led to a “massive drop in revenue.”

About 90 percent of Twitter’s revenue comes from advertising sales.

The coalition obtained a list of 100 advertisers by total spending this year and said only 51 advertisers had paused their spending.