Elon Musk Is Spreading Election Misinformation, but X’s Fact Checkers Are Long Gone
In the spring of 2020, when President Donald J. Trump wrote messages on Twitter warning that increased reliance on mail-in ballots would lead to a “rigged election,” the platform ran a corrective, debunking his claims.
“Get the facts about mail-in voting,” a content label read. “Experts say mail-in ballots are very rarely linked to voter fraud,” the hyperlinked article declared.
This month, Elon Musk, who has since bought Twitter and rebranded it X, echoed several of Mr. Trump’s claims about the American voting system, putting forth distorted and false notions that American elections were wide open for fraud and illegal voting by noncitizens.
This time, there were no fact checks. And the X algorithm — under Mr. Musk’s direct control — helped the posts reach large audiences, in some cases drawing many millions of views.
Since taking control of the site, Mr. Musk has dismantled the platform’s system for flagging false election content, arguing it amounted to election interference.
Good luck in November, America. Seems you'll need it more than ever.
The world needs it.
Democracy already lost to capitalism. Authoritarianism is the natural progression of allowing a minority to control most of humanity's wealth/power/resources — a return to the mean that applied for 99% of recorded history.
Isn't authoritarianism the default type of government humans gravitate towards because there's always some dumbass who wants to be king or emperor and they somehow pull it off?
Because the rich promise to lift a specific subset of people out of the muck, in exchange for that specific subset allowing them to rule and to keep the rest of the population far from their golden thrones. Capitalism has always been the fault, greed has always been the motivating factor.
People need to stop thinking that their life is any more important than their neighbor’s and start thinking that we’re all in it together and we should all enjoy the time we’ve got as best as we all possibly can. From king to peasant, from president to street rat we are all the same and should all be treated equally. How we can have billionaires and millionaires when someone will die homeless from hypothermia is beyond me. It’s not an individual responsibility either, that should be the goal of a good government; that all its citizens have in abundance and it should also be the goal of world leadership that nations work collectively to make sure that every citizen of every nation has in abundance.
Instead we have dragons laying atop golden mountains
I read a while ago that capitalism is cancer but industrialization isn't. I think I see what you mean. Being driven by profit caused our well being to diminish to critical levels
I was going to send my drone to Ukraine but I might need it here. Hilarious the maga folks think they’re the only ones with weapons
I am fairly sure Dump will win. I'm already prepping my brain for 4 years of idiots, scheming, sexism, racism, and all hail God. I'm sorry everyone, we have a lot of raging dumb idiots here
If you think it will end after your years, you're not prepping anywhere near hard enough.
I am out of the country before the election. Fuck it. I'm done with this country.
Where are you heading?
I bought a little bluewater sailboat about a year ago and went through most of my life savings getting it ready. Don't get me wrong, my "life savings" was pretty paltry for 30+ years of employment, and it's a really small boat. Next month I'll be leaving the west coast and heading west.
That sounds amazing--and terrifying! You're one of those real life "I bought a boat and just went people." While I couldn't do a boat open ocean, one day I hope to emulate you and do something like the Great Loop, and other adventures. Fair winds and following seas.
Hey, thanks. Yeah, I sailed a lot as a kid, then just didn't for several decades. It was always my dream to just go, but there was no way I could afford it. Then I found a pretty good deal, looked at my life and this country and just kind of said fuck it. It would be a blast to do the Great Loop! I hope you get to do it.
Damn, person just expressing their opinion and preparing for the worst and they get downvoted. They weren't even supporting the win. The hive is buzzing.
I’m don’t think he will stay out of hospital for that long.
I can see him escaping justice due to ‘ill health’ but also having to give up the idea of running.
Orange man ftw 24