Billionaire Elon Musk, now the mastermind behind Donald Trump's social media campaign, has been spinning tales that have garnered a staggering 2 billion views, according to a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
World's richest man has been accused of peddling fake news and misleading claims about the U.S. election. Since taking the reins of the platform formerly known as Twitter, Musk has gutted content moderation, laid off droves of employees, and become an outspoken cheerleader for Donald Trump.
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The report states, Musk’s near-203 million followers amplify his every word, turning X into a misinformation megaphone. Carnegie Mellon’s Kathleen Carley likens X to a hub where misinformation flows freely to platforms like Reddit and Telegram. She has circled out 87 of Musk’s posts this year, marked as false by fact-checkers, having collectively amassed a whopping 2 billion views.
In Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state, local election officials faced a wave of false allegations, thanks to Musk’s platform. Some users misrepresented flagged voter registration issues as voter suppression, adding fuel to the fire. Philip Hensley-Robin from Common Cause slammed these claims, emphasizing that officials were simply enforcing rules to ensure only eligible voters could participate.
HT in US: Special Coverage of the American elections by Prashant Jha
{{/usCountry}}In Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state, local election officials faced a wave of false allegations, thanks to Musk’s platform. Some users misrepresented flagged voter registration issues as voter suppression, adding fuel to the fire. Philip Hensley-Robin from Common Cause slammed these claims, emphasizing that officials were simply enforcing rules to ensure only eligible voters could participate.
HT in US: Special Coverage of the American elections by Prashant Jha
{{/usCountry}}But the misinformation didn’t stop there. A viral fake video, allegedly showing Trump’s mail-in ballots being destroyed, also made rounds on X, with the help of an account boasting 117,000 followers. Cyabra, an AI firm focused on exposing online lies, highlighted this as a textbook case of disinformation gone wild.
Musk and X have not spoken on the report.