Elon Musk amplifies fabricated Trump rally bomb threat and unsubstantiated allegations concerning the election.
Musk's publication of inflammatory, inflammatory content on X isn't anything novel, but the rapidity with which he's disseminated untrue assertions lately is noteworthy given the scope of Musk's digital influence. His posts often land at the top of users' feeds.
The most contentious of Musk's speculative posts emerged following an alleged second attempt on former President Trump's life. Musk, a Trump supporter, reportedly posted on X that "no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Harris." After facing criticism, he eventually deleted the post, claiming it was a joke.
During the same weekend, Musk also contributed to a group of conspiracy-minded X users spreading a false "affidavit" from an alleged "whistleblower." This document claimed that the previous week's ABC News debate was rigged to benefit Harris. ABC later established that the document was a hoax.
Then, on a Wednesday, Musk re-shared a bogus claim about a bomb discovered near a planned Trump rally in Long Island. Police later declared that such claims were groundless.
Even though the initial false bomb threat post is still live on X, the original post has been removed. Musk's post has been annotated with a crowd-sourced "community notes" fact-check, clarifying that the claim was untrue. Despite this, the post received 4.3 million views and was re-shared 9,800 times within its first 2.5 hours.
On the same Wednesday, Musk re-shared a misleading video alleging that the city manager of Springfield, Ohio, had admitted to reports of Haitian immigrants eating pets. Musk captioned the post "Always Be Cheating News," targeting ABC's moderators. The video was doctored to misrepresent the Springfield resident's statement of unconfirmed reports about domesticated animals being harmed. Both the city's mayor and manager affirmed that no such evidence had been presented.
Musk's post, which spread false information about Haitian immigrants that had been championed by Trump and his running mate, garnered over 7.9 million views and 36,000 re-shares.
Later, Musk shared an alleged map by renowned statistician Nate Silver, predicting a 312-226 electoral college victory for Trump in November. The map was fake.
The genuine map from Silver's newsletter platform, "Silver Bulletin," published on Wednesday, indicated several states in play, including Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Silver himself acknowledged that the election was "a tossup." Meanwhile, in simulations from FiveThirtyEight, which Silver left last year, Harris was projected to win the election in 64 out of 100 simulations.
X did not respond to CNN's request for comment on Musk's posts last Wednesday.
Musk is not the only individual spreading false information on the platform, although he is certainly one of its most prominent voices. Many of the untrue assertions powered by Musk in recent days were also amplified by other significant right-wing figures.
Since acquiring Twitter in 2022, Musk has drastically reduced the company's moderation teams and altered its policies, allowing misinformation and hate speech to proliferate on the platform. Musk also reinstated the accounts of previously banned conspiracy theorists, created financial incentives for viral content, and invalidated verified badges.
However, Musk's colossal 198 million-strong following combined with the platform boosting his posts has elevated untrue claims that ordinarily would remain confined to less visible internet corners. While Musk positions himself as a free-speech advocate, his penchant for amplifying fringe right-wing voices and regularly attacking news organizations and journalists poses a significant challenge for voters seeking reliable information online during an already tumultuous election period.
The media outlet CNN reached out to X for comments on Musk's posts, but received no response. Despite Musk's claims of being a free-speech advocate, his actions on X have contributed to the spread of misinformation in the business world of social media.
Musk's posts, often filled with false information, have attracted considerable attention in the media business, with some content reaching millions of views and thousands of shares.
