False or deceptive claims by billionaire Elon Musk concerning the US election have amassed two billion views on social media platform X this yr, in line with a report by non-profit group Middle for Countering Digital Hate.
The platform can also be taking part in a central position in enabling the unfold of false details about the crucial battleground states that may seemingly decide the end result of the presidential race, election and misinformation specialists stated on Monday.
A spokesman for X stated the corporate’s Group Notes function, which lets customers add extra context to posts, is more practical at serving to individuals establish deceptive content material than conventional warning flags on posts.
Since taking up the corporate previously often known as Twitter, Musk has curtailed content material moderation and laid off 1000’s of staff. He has thrown his assist behind former US President Donald Trump, who’s locked in an exceptionally shut race in opposition to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
Musk’s huge attain with almost 203 million followers helps allow “community results” by which content material on X can bounce to different social media and messaging platforms reminiscent of Reddit and Telegram, stated Kathleen Carley, a professor of pc science at Carnegie Mellon College and professional on disinformation. “X is a conduit from one platform to a different,” she stated.
Not less than 87 of Musk’s posts this yr have promoted claims concerning the US election that fact-checkers have rated as false or deceptive, amassing two billion views, in line with the Middle for Countering Digital Hate’s report.
Disinformation
In Pennsylvania, one of many seven key swing states, some X customers have seized on cases of native election directors flagging incomplete voter registration kinds that may not be processed, falsely casting the occasions as examples of election interference, stated Philip Hensley-Robin, Pennsylvania government director at Frequent Trigger, throughout a press briefing on Monday.
Frequent Trigger is a nonpartisan organisation that promotes accountable authorities and voting rights.
Learn: In area, nobody can hear Musk’s rivals scream
Some X accounts implied “that there was voter fraud, when the truth is, we all know very clearly that election officers and election directors in all of our counties had been following the principles and … subsequently solely eligible voters are voting”, Hensley-Robin stated.
Cyabra, a agency that makes use of AI to detect on-line disinformation, stated on Monday that an X account with 117 000 followers performed a key position in serving to unfold a pretend video purporting to indicate Pennsylvania mail-in ballots for Trump being destroyed.
X’s spokesman stated the platform took motion in opposition to many accounts that shared the video. — Kanishka Singh and Sheila Dang, with Stephanie Burnett, (c) 2024 Reuters
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