A recent report from the British non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) accuses Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), of spreading misinformation about the U.S. election and the Democratic Party’s presidential campaign.
The report identifies 50 posts made by Musk in 2023 that contain false claims, which have not been fact-checked or corrected on the platform. CCDH’s CEO, Imran Ahmed, highlighted the platform’s failure to address these inaccuracies, warning of the potential real-world consequences similar to those seen during the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
The false claims made by Musk predominantly revolve around allegations that the Democratic Party is attempting to import voters to secure an electoral advantage.
Examples include a post from March 28, where Musk alleged that the Democrats’ goal is to “import voters,” and another from February 26, suggesting that the party refuses to deport immigrants because they could eventually become voters. These claims have been debunked by independent fact-checkers, such as Politifact, which rated them as false.
Musk has also used his platform to undermine confidence in the U.S. election system, falsely asserting that electronic voting machines are at risk of being hacked and advocating for the ban of mail-in and drop-box ballots.
Despite being debunked by experts, including those at the Brennan Center for Justice, who confirm that voter fraud is rare and security measures are robust, these posts have not been corrected or flagged on X.
In a particularly concerning instance, Musk shared a deepfake video of Vice President Kamala Harris, featuring manipulated content designed to discredit her with false and offensive statements.
Although X has policies against sharing manipulated media, the post remains unaddressed, raising questions about the platform’s enforcement of its own rules and its role in the spread of misinformation.
Given the volume and impact of Musk’s misinformation, CCDH is advocating for changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, proposing that social media companies be held accountable for the content they allow to spread, much like traditional media outlets.
This push for regulatory reform comes as X Corp. is engaged in a legal dispute with CCDH, accusing the organization of illegally scraping data and conducting a campaign to scare away advertisers. Efforts to obtain a comment from X have been unsuccessful, as the platform has largely dismantled its public relations team under Musk’s leadership.
