Experts have highlighted that Elon Musk‘s platform, X (formerly Twitter), is becoming a significant hub for misinformation as the U.S. election approaches. A recent analysis identified 87 misleading posts linked to key political figures and events, raising concerns about the platform’s impact on voter perception and decision-making.
Critics argue that Elon Musk’s changes to content moderation have contributed to the proliferation of false narratives, prompting calls for stricter regulations to combat misinformation ahead of the 2024 elections. False or misleading claims by billionaire Elon Musk. Elon Musk’s about the US election have garnered 2 billion views on social media platform X this year, according to a report by the non-profit Centre for Countering Digital Hate.
Experts say Elon Musk and X are US election
The platform is also playing a central role in enabling the spread of false information about the critical battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential race, election and misinformation experts said on Monday. A spokesperson for X said the company’s Community Notes feature, which lets users add additional context to posts, is more effective at helping people identify misleading content than traditional warning flags on posts.
Since taking over the company formerly known as Twitter, Musk has curtailed content moderation and laid off thousands of employees. He has thrown his support behind former President Donald Trump, who is locked in an exceptionally close race against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
Elon Musk’s massive reach with nearly 203 million followers helps enable “network effects” in which content on X can jump to other social media and messaging platforms such as Reddit and Telegram, said Kathleen Carley, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and expert on disinformation. “X is a conduit from one platform to another,” she said.
At least 87 of Elon Musk’s posts this year have promoted claims about the US election that fact-checkers have rated as false or misleading, amassing 2 billion views, according to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate’s report.
Experts have raised alarms about misinformation spreading on Elon Musk’s platform, X (formerly Twitter), as the U.S. elections approach. A recent study found 87 misleading posts related to prominent political figures and events. Analysts believe Musk’s changes to the platform’s content moderation policies have facilitated this increase in false information, prompting discussions about the need for tighter regulations to ensure accurate information is available to voters.
In Pennsylvania, one of the seven key swing states, some X users have seized on instances of local election administrators flagging incomplete voter registration forms that would not be processed, falsely casting the events as examples of election interference, said Philip Hensley-Robin, Pennsylvania executive director at Common Cause, during a press briefing on Monday.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan organisation that promotes accountable government and voting rights.
Some X accounts implied “that there was voter fraud, when in fact, we know very clearly that election officials and election administrators in all of our counties were following the rules and therefore only eligible voters are voting,” Hensley-Robin said.
Cyabra, a firm that uses AI to detect online disinformation, said on Monday that an X account with 117,000 followers played a key role in helping spread a fake video purporting to show Pennsylvania mail-in ballots for Trump being destroyed.
X’s spokesperson said the platform took action against many accounts that shared the video.
Source: eNCA
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