Elon Musk vowed to make Twitter the “most accurate source of information about the world,” but he has repeatedly used his own account to amplify false claims from a variety of the internet’s most infamous disinformers, as demonstrated by an AFP analysis of his online activity.
Musk’s posts display a penchant for drawing attention to misinformation on subjects ranging from the struggle in Ukraine to the assault on US Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s husband. Just final week, the billionaire gave credence to a tweet suggesting that medical doctors misdiagnosed flu cases as Covid-19 deaths.
“One of the greatest mysteries of Covid-19: Where did the flu go in 2020 and 2021?” an account called “KanekoaTheGreat” requested, prompting Musk to reply: “Good query.”
Since snapping up Twitter for a cool $44 billion nearly six months in the past, the outspoken entrepreneur has replied to this specific account, identified for promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory, at least forty times. In comparison, he has solely responded to some other accounts extra throughout the same interval.
Using knowledge from PolitiTweet, a net site that tracked public figures’ posts until Twitter cut off its access, AFP reviewed thousands of replies Musk printed between late October and March.
Among the billionaire’s dubious shares were a fabricated CNN phase, a phony quote he dubbed “wise phrases,” and a false declare that police escorted a rioter through the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He additionally drew consideration to a publish blaming mass shootings on LGBTQ individuals and endorsed a fake casualty count from Ukraine.
Musk hasn’t shied away from downplaying Covid-19 either, actively selling spurious claims about vaccines causing blood clots, miscarriages, and coronary heart issues.
“We are running out of ‘conspiracies’ that turned out to be true!” the Twitter owner quipped in March, replying to a tweet that listed Covid-19 and vaccine security among the “biggest media lies.”
Just Freebie , he said that the “best method to struggle misinformation is to reply with correct information.”
Experts argue that Musk’s activity is troubling, due not only to his huge on-line affect, but in addition because it reveals his thought course of as somebody who determines the policies of a serious social media platform.
“Musk has almost 135 million Twitter followers and forced his engineers to extend the attain of his tweets, so we should fear when he spreads misinformation,” noted Brendan Nyhan, a Dartmouth College professor who studies misperceptions in politics. “I’m most worried, though, about what these tweets reveal about the judgment of the person who determines the insurance policies of a serious social media platform.”
– Musk’s feed –
Researchers have linked current modifications in Twitter’s policy, together with Musk’s reinstatement of suspended accounts and its revamp of verification practices, to surges in misinformation.
NewsGuard, a company that assesses websites’ credibility, found that accounts paying for Twitter’s subscription service are flooding the positioning with false claims.
Musk himself is shining a spotlight on some of these accounts.
“Got the Elon Musk stamp of approval,” boasted “KanekoaTheGreat” on Telegram after one such reply.
A January research from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based assume tank, documented a “staggering” rise in Musk’s interactions with right-wing accounts since buying Twitter, including profiles different analysis flagged as spreaders of US election misinformation.
Musk has repeatedly retweeted content from sources such as the pro-Donald Trump page “Catturd,” the anti-LGBTQ account “Libs of TikTok,” and the conspiratorial website ZeroHedge.
Ian Miles Cheong, a far-right blogger, has obtained a minimum of 60 replies from Musk, placing him among only a few different customers who can declare related interaction levels, based on AFP’s analysis. In Genuine , Musk drew attention to a tweet blaming Joe Biden for an immigration program that started beneath Trump.
“Musk is elevating a number of the worst voices on Twitter,” remarked Nyhan. “These interactions are prone to enhance the reach and prominence of the accounts.”
In certain situations, the Twitter boss has performed a task in mainstreaming false narratives.
After an intruder broke into Pelosi’s California home and struck her husband with a hammer in October, Musk tweeted a link to an article alleging he was drunk and combating with a male prostitute. The hashtag #Pelosigaylover quickly turned a trending topic on Twitter.
The combination of court docket filings and security footage from the incident debunked these claims, which originated from a web site with a history of publishing misinformation. By then, however, the injury was already done.
“It’s actually unhappy for the country that folks of that high visibility would separate themselves from the information and the truth in such a blatant means,” Nancy Pelosi lamented. “It is traumatizing to those affected by it. They don’t care about that, obviously.”