1.2 Billion Views for Elon Musk's 'Misleading' Messages About the US Elections

According to research by a watchdog organization, the claims made by Elon Musk regarding the US elections, published on the social media platform X, have garnered approximately 1.2 billion views this year. These figures indicate the potential influence of this billionaire on the US presidential elections. Independent experts and watchdog organizations warn that as the US presidential elections approach, the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has become a hub for spreading false and misleading information. They state that Elon Musk, one of the world's wealthiest individuals who purchased the former Twitter in 2022 and is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, is attempting to influence voters' perceptions and decisions by disseminating misinformation on his personal account. The Digital Hate Center identified 50 messages from Elon Musk, who has over 193 million followers on X, published since January, all of which have been debunked and exposed by independent fact-checkers. The Digital Hate Center added that none of Musk's posts carry the label known as 'Community Notes,' a tool on X for users to add contextual information to published content. This has raised suspicions about the effectiveness of X's methods for combating misinformation. Omar Ahmed, the director of this organization, stated, 'Elon Musk is abusing his prominent position as the owner of a social media platform with broad political influence to spread information that fosters division and distrust.' He further noted that the absence of the Community Notes label in Musk's posts indicates that his company (X) is incapable of controlling inflammatory content and promoting hate, which can lead to real violence in society. Two of Musk's claims—one encouraging immigration by the Democratic Party to 'import voters' and another asserting that voting is vulnerable to fraud—each received hundreds of millions of views and have been debunked by independent fact-checkers. Last week, Musk faced severe criticism after reposting a fake video produced with 'deepfake' technology about Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate in the US presidential elections. Musk later claimed that his intention in reposting the video was political satire, but the video, which had millions of viewers, showed no signs of humor or fabrication aside from a laughing emoji. Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, is now under scrutiny for his potential influence on American voters. Five former US secretaries of state from both the Democratic and Republican parties issued an open letter on August 6, urging Musk to correct the X chatbot named 'Groq,' which has been producing and disseminating false and misleading information about the elections in recent weeks. An example of this chatbot's output, which operates with artificial intelligence, was the dissemination of false information regarding voting deadlines, which was republished by other digital platforms. The latest instance of widespread criticism of X was the dissemination of false and inflammatory information that recently facilitated riots by far-right and anti-immigrant groups in the UK. Critics argue that under Musk's ownership and management, many oversight mechanisms to prevent the spread of harmful misinformation on X have been dismantled, and this once-prominent social media platform has now become a haven for deception and the promotion of discord and violence.