When misinformation spreads in 2024, it usually has Elon Musk’s fingerprints on it.
PolitiFact analyzed greater than 450 X posts Musk constructed from Sept. 30 to Oct. 14, together with reposts, quote replies and a few customary replies to varied X customers.
That interval spanned catastrophe response in components of the Southeast U.S. hit exhausting by hurricanes Helene and Milton, the Oct. 1 vice presidential debate in New York and former President Donald Trump’s return to Butler, Pennsylvania — the place Trump was almost assassinated three months earlier.
In two years proudly owning the platform previously known as Twitter, Musk has overseen a policy overhaul that dramatically loosened safeguards to stop misinformation’s unfold. Our evaluation exhibits his personal posts embody this shift — within the two weeks we analyzed, Musk promoted deceptive or inaccurate content material most days to an enormous viewers.
He berated the Federal Emergency Administration Company for its response to Hurricane Helene’s destruction in North Carolina, repeatedly sharing false claims about federal staff blocking help. He amplified the false narrative that the Biden-Harris administration took cash from FEMA’s catastrophe aid and spent it on immigrants.
Musk — who was born in South Africa in 1971 and have become a U.S. citizen in 2002 — continued his long-standing election 12 months sample of sharing falsehoods about immigrants and the immigration course of, together with baselessly claiming that immigrants have or will vote in U.S. elections.
He additionally promoted false claims about voting, together with disparaging and mischaracterizing a brand new California regulation associated to voter IDs.
Emerson Brooking, a senior fellow and director of technique on the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Analysis Lab, mentioned Musk doesn’t management what individuals consider, however “does meaningfully management” the content material thousands and thousands of individuals see every day.
“This agenda-setting is his actual energy,” Brooking mentioned.
Musk’s attain is huge. He has greater than 202 million X followers, who frequently view and work together together with his posts.
The misinformation-containing posts we analyzed over these two weeks acquired almost 679 million views, greater than 5.3 million likes and over 1.6 million reposts.
As he unfold inaccurate claims, Musk promoted his corporations and lauded their occasions and applied sciences — all whereas repeatedly encouraging individuals to vote for Trump.
Musk endorsed Trump after a gunman tried to kill the previous president July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Since then, Musk has donated millions of {dollars} to a pro-Trump political motion committee, spoken at a Trump rally and hosted pro-Trump town halls. In September, Trump mentioned that if he’s elected, he desires Musk to oversee a commission that will audit the federal authorities’s funds and efficiency.
Musk deepened his involvement with the Trump marketing campaign within the 2024 election’s remaining weeks, sharing claims that goal to harm Vice President Kamala Harris’ marketing campaign and the federal authorities and assist Trump — even when these claims are inaccurate or unsubstantiated, mentioned Mike Rothschild, a journalist, creator and conspiracy idea expert.
Musk’s intensive viewers and international popularity serve to legitimize the falsehoods he promotes, consultants mentioned.
Neither Musk, his lawyer, X, SpaceX or Starlink responded to PolitiFact’s inquiries for this story. Starlink, a satellite tv for pc communications firm, has figured in some of the false narratives about hurricane aid.
Over the 14 days we analyzed, Musk’s deceptive or inaccurate posts targeted totally on hurricane aid, immigration and voting.
Federal hurricane response: On Sept. 30, six days after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida and precipitated extreme flooding all through the Southeast, Musk reposted the pro-Trump Libs of TikTok X account’s put up criticizing FEMA’s catastrophe response and blaming the company’s acknowledged give attention to “fairness” for hindering aid.
“The entire US authorities has been doing this,” Musk wrote Sept. 30 alongside together with his repost. On Oct. 6, Musk’s line of criticism went additional when he reposted a False claim from Finish Wokeness, a pro-Trump X account with 3.1 million followers, asserting that FEMA was focusing its catastrophe aid on LGBTQ+ individuals.
That’s inaccurate: FEMA has prioritized “fairness” as an organizational aim, however that comes after a long time of complaints that its previous catastrophe response efforts harmed individuals in underserved communities. At the moment, its strategic plan counts the underserved as non secular minorities, individuals of shade, individuals with disabilities, individuals in rural areas or impoverished individuals — it doesn’t prioritize LGBTQ+ individuals for catastrophe aid.
Additionally in October, Musk reposted a declare that mentioned the company had been “steadily remodeled” into “an unlawful alien resettlement company that emphasizes DEI over public security.” “That is loopy,” Musk wrote, as if the put up’s claims had been correct. “FEMA’s prime precedence is meant to be saving the lives of America(n) residents.” (DEI stands for range, fairness and inclusion.)
(Screenshots/X)
However this portrayal of FEMA’s work is mistaken. FEMA has funded migrants’ meals, shelter and transportation by two applications that give cash to nonprofits and state and native governments. This started underneath Trump’s administration in 2019, and that funding does not come out of the company’s Catastrophe Aid Fund.
At the least 9 occasions from Sept. 30 to Oct. 14, Musk repeated this false narrative that FEMA spent catastrophe aid funds on migrants.
He additionally reshared photos amplifying the declare that Trump went to ship Helene survivors provides whereas Biden “was on the seashore all weekend” and Harris “staged a telephone name picture.” The Biden seashore picture was taken about a month before Hurricane Helene hit Florida and there’s no evidence Harris’ telephone name wasn’t actual. The administration’s Hurricane Helene response continued that weekend.
On Oct. 4, Musk posted a series of anecdotes and screenshots promoting the False claim that FEMA and the Federal Aviation Administration had been blocking flights with hurricane emergency provides together with Musk’s Starlink units, which let individuals hook up with the web.
(Screenshots/X)
These posts amassed a lot consideration that U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg responded on X, writing, “Nobody is shutting down the airspace and FAA doesn’t block legit rescue and restoration flights,” and inspiring Musk to contact him with points. After Musk expressed preliminary issue contacting Buttigieg, they appeared to have linked and resolved the problem, with Musk writing, “Thanks for serving to simplify the FAA (Discover to Airmen). Assist flights at the moment are underway. A lot appreciated.”
Afterward, Buttigieg told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki that he spoke by telephone with Musk and helped make clear some confusion that the pilots attempting to ship Starlink units had skilled.
Immigrants and immigration: On Oct. 2, Musk reshared a post from Trump’s operating mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, who argued {that a} Federal Reserve examine confirmed immigrants drive up housing prices. That’s Mostly False: Consultants agree that elevated immigration will increase demand for restricted housing, however it’s not the first issue driving excessive housing costs.
Musk additionally used his X account to boost falsehoods about U.S. Customs and Border Safety’s CBP One app, which migrants use to schedule appointments for processing with immigration officers. Opposite to Musk’s claims, the app does not give migrants entry to the U.S. or provide free flights.
When you learn and believed Musk’s X posts, you’d assume that immigrants are illegally voting in U.S. elections: He has pushed this falsehood on X since January.
Solely U.S. residents can vote in federal elections, and it takes a few years for lawful everlasting residents to change into residents and acquire voting rights.
But, within the window we analyzed, Musk repeated and reposted variations of this baseless narrative no less than at least seven times, together with twice Oct. 3, when Musk wrote, “Dems are doing deliberate voter importation to swing states & fast-tracking them to citizenship” to vary the election end result and, in a separate put up, said it was “solely a matter of time earlier than the illegals within the swing states are legally in a position to vote.”
His falsehoods about immigration went past claims about immigrants voting illegally, too:
- On Oct. 5, he amplified a Fox Information graphic and claimed that “the Biden/Harris Administration knowingly launched” 13,099 immigrants within the U.S. illegally who had been convicted of murder. That’s False.
- On Oct. 12 and Oct. 13, Musk inaccurately characterized elevated immigration as “an invasion.”
- On Oct. 14, Musk reshared a story about gangs taking “management of a number of properties in Aurora, Colorado” and described it as “insane.” In September, PolitiFact reported that metropolis officers and residents say there isn’t a Venezuelan gang “takeover” in Aurora, Colorado, a metropolis about 10 miles east of Denver.
Election fraud and voter ID legal guidelines: Beginning Sept. 30, Musk claimed a brand new California law made “PREVENTING voter fraud in opposition to the regulation.” On Oct. 5, he said the regulation made it “actually not possible to show fraud there now.”
That’s inaccurate. A new law added a provision to California’s election code that prohibits native governments from requiring voter IDs at polling locations. It didn’t change the state’s means to prosecute falsifying voter registration info, which is a felony. Preexisting California regulation mentioned that most voters were not required to supply ID when voting in particular person and voter fraud, though rare, has been prosecuted before.
On Oct. 1 and Oct. 5, Musk reshared pro-voter ID requirement lists that mentioned individuals want IDs to board planes, get prescriptions and drive — however to not vote. We’ve repeatedly rated similar lists Mostly False as a result of, in 36 states, voters are required or requested to current identification on the polls and federal regulation requires first-time voters to point out ID once they request mail ballots.
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Later Oct. 1, Musk added the phrase “wow” and amplified Trump’s baseless declare that California enacted its new regulation stopping governments from requiring voter IDs as a result of Democrats “wish to cheat on elections.” Within the put up Musk reshared, an X consumer mentioned “election fraud is rampant in California.” But it surely’s not: Voter fraud is rare in California.
The general public in Musk’s digital orbit are conservative influencers. Generally, he amplified Republican U.S. politicians equivalent to Trump, Vance and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. Different occasions he reshared lesser-known individuals affiliated with the “Benny Johnson Present” or X webshows, that are audio and generally video podcasts hosted on X.
Musk nearly solely interacts with blue-check X subscribers or accounts boasting gray checks, which symbolize official authorities organizations or officers, or gold checks, which symbolize official verified organizations. Generally, accounts with blue checks subscribe to Musk’s X premium service, which permits customers to edit posts and exceed X’s regular character limits. A subscription additionally means X “prioritizes” a consumer’s replies over replies from customers who are usually not subscribed.
(PolitiFact has a blue examine on X however is not subscribed to X premium.)
In additional than 450 posts, we discovered that Musk reposted or quote-posted only one particular person with no blue, grey or gold examine. That particular person was an Australia-based consumer with about 128,000 X followers who describes himself as “anti-totalitarian left” and “pro-West, pro-social democracy.”
Excluding reposts of content material from his numerous corporations and organizations — together with SpaceX, Starlink, Tesla and his pro-Trump America PAC — within the two weeks we analyzed Musk most incessantly quote-posted or reposted three pretty obscure accounts, every with blue-check subscriptions: DogeDesigner, or @cb_doge, an account Musk interacted with no less than 27 occasions; Mario Nawfal, or @MarioNawfal, whose posts Musk interacted with 22 occasions; and Alex, or @ajtourville, whose posts Should interacted with 21 occasions. Often, these accounts shared misinformation that Musk then amplified to his followers.
DogeDesigner and Alex, @ajtourville, frequently put up about Tesla, SpaceX or Musk. Alex was the supply of some deceptive claims Musk shared about voting and voter ID legal guidelines. On Oct. 21, DogeDesigner encouraged individuals to affix Musk’s new X Neighborhood purportedly “targeted on exposing voter fraud.” Musk reposted that encouragement. Nawfal hosts an X Spaces show about cryptocurrency and likewise posts about politics, with some emphasis on free speech and immigration.
In our evaluation, Musk most incessantly amplified posts from these three accounts. (Screenshots/X)
Extra usually, nonetheless, the falsehoods Musk shared stemmed from extra well-known misinformers, together with pro-Trump political activist Charlie Kirk, the top of Turning Level USA, and different far-right teams and accounts recognized to unfold misinformation together with End Wokeness, Libs of TikTok and America First Legal, a authorized advocacy group launched by former Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller.
Hit with a barrage of false claims about Hurricanes Helene and Milton, federal, state and native officers repeatedly warned that the disinformation unfold may impede catastrophe aid and may trigger individuals to keep away from in search of the assistance they want.
“Our primary aim is for survivors to get the help that they deserve, that they want to allow them to get well,” FEMA Press Secretary Daniel Llargues told PolitiFact Oct. 6. “All of this noise and misinformation could forestall some individuals from coming to us for help.”
Deen Freelon, a presidential professor at College of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Faculty for Communication, mentioned Musk’s standing as X’s most-followed consumer and world’s richest man give him “large energy and a focus.”
“Followers belief and adore their idols,” and with that belief and adoration, these idols can form followers’ beliefs and perceptions, Freelon mentioned. “So when somebody like Musk posts misinformation, lots of his followers will embrace it because the gospel reality.”
The X posts that prompted a name with Buttigieg exemplified how Musk’s on-line actions can demand consideration offline. Musk “can definitely drive different highly effective individuals to hearken to him,” Brooking of Digital Forensic Analysis Lab mentioned.
Rothschild mentioned Musk is showing at Trump rallies, speaking to Cupboard members and “pumping a large sum of money into Trump’s marketing campaign.”
“The largest concern is (Musk’s) standing on the far proper as a truth-teller of ‘forbidden narratives,’” he mentioned. That popularity and the sheer measurement of his following extends misinformation’s attain.
“When he shares this nonsense, he’s sharing it with an viewers primed to consider it and share it with others,” Rothschild mentioned.
Our information helps this, displaying Musk reached thousands and thousands of customers with inaccurate info in simply two weeks.
As PolitiFact was scripting this story, Musk propelled one other deceptive election declare into social media customers’ feeds — that Michigan, a swing state, has extra registered voters than eligible residents.
“These additional ballots symbolize an enormous threat of election fraud,” read the Oct. 19 picture he reshared from a pro-Trump account that claims it shares “conservative headlines w/ a Sprint of Satire and Ai.”
They don’t. “Musk is pushing a deceptive quantity that features 1.2 million inactive information slated for removing in accordance with the regulation,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson responded on X.
By sheer numbers of views recorded, Benson’s put up with the correct info outpaced Musk’s deceptive declare — 33 million to 32.2 million, in accordance with X’s metrics. However the metrics additionally confirmed that though many X customers learn it, her message didn’t generate the identical form of engaged help.
A tenth as many accounts preferred Benson’s fact-check as they did Musk’s put up — 16,000 in contrast with 166,000 — and Musk’s false info was reshared almost 9 occasions extra usually, regardless of a group word being hooked up to it noting it was factually flawed.
When Musk {followed} up a day later to accuse Benson of “blatantly mendacity to the general public,” his post once more drew greater than 31 million views, with 170,000 likes and 47,000 reshares.
About 2.8% as many individuals, in the meantime, noticed Benson’s retort, and fewer than 1% of these accounts bothered to love or repost it.
“In Michigan,” Benson wrote, addressing Musk by title, “we inform the reality and we comply with the regulation. I counsel you do the identical.”
PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
This reality examine was initially published by PolitiFact, which is a part of the Poynter Institute. See the sources for this reality examine here.
