Billionaire Elon Musk’s false or misleading claims about the US election garnered 2 billion views on social media platform X this year, according to a report by the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate.
The platform also plays a central role in enabling the spread of false information about crucial battleground states that are likely to determine the outcome of the presidential race, election and disinformation experts said Monday.
An X spokesperson said the company’s Community Notes feature, which allows users to add additional context to posts, is more effective at helping people identify misleading content than traditional warning labels on posts.
Since acquiring the company formerly known as Twitter, Musk has scaled back 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 nominee Kamala Harris.
Kathleen Carley, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a communications expert, said Musk’s massive reach with nearly 203 million followers helps enable “network effects” where content on X can trickle down to social media and other messaging platforms like Reddit. And Telegram. misinformation. “X is a channel from one platform to another,” she said.
At least 87 of Musk’s posts this year promoted claims about the US election that fact-checkers rated as false or misleading, garnering 2 billion views, according to a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
Philip Hensley Rubin, of Pennsylvania, said some Elections. Executive Director of Common Cause during a press conference on Monday.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization that works to promote accountable government and voting rights.
Some of
Cyabra, a company that uses artificial intelligence to detect misinformation online, said Monday that the
An X spokesperson said the platform had taken action against several accounts that shared the video.