Experts say Musk and X are hotbeds of misinformation in the US about the election

Billionaire Elon Musk’s false or misleading claims about the US election have garnered 2 billion views on social media platform X this year, according to a report by the nonprofit Center to Combat Digital Hate.

The platform also plays a central role in enabling the spread of false information about crucial battleground states that will likely 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 flags on posts.

Since taking over 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 extremely close race against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.

Musk’s massive reach with nearly 203 million followers helps trigger “network effects” in which content on X can jump to other social media and messaging platforms like Reddit and Telegram, said Kathleen Carley, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and disinformation expert. “X is a conduit from one platform to another,” he said.

At least 87 of Musk’s posts this year have promoted claims about the US election that auditors have rated as false or misleading, garnering 2 billion views, according to a report by the Center to Combat Digital Hate.

In Pennsylvania, one of seven key swing states, some X-users have seized on instances of local election administrators flagging incomplete voter registration forms that could not be processed, misrepresenting the facts as examples of election interference, said Philip Hensley-Robin, Pennsylvania executive director at Common Cause, during a press conference on Monday.

Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization that promotes responsible 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 company that uses artificial intelligence to detect online misinformation, said Monday that an X account with 117,000 followers was instrumental in spreading a fake video purporting to show Pennsylvania ballots being destroyed by mail for Trump.

X’s spokesperson said the platform has taken action against several accounts that shared the video.