A picture reveals Elon Musk posted on X, “Anybody caught selling propaganda can be suspended from X.”
Musk by no means posted these phrases. Customers shared a pretend screenshot. We uncovered no proof suggesting Musk posted after which deleted the comment, or that he expressed the identical thought elsewhere.
Billionaire X proprietor Elon Musk is rumored to have as soon as posted on his social media platform, “Anybody caught selling propaganda can be suspended from X.”
This rumor circulated in early September 2024 on Facebook, Reddit, Threads, Tumblr and X.
For instance, one X consumer posted a purported screenshot of the quote in reference to Musk’s promotion of an unfounded rumor claiming Haitian immigrants had killed and eaten pet cats and park ducks in Springfield, Ohio. That consumer’s publish later turned up embedded on different web sites, together with Infowars.com, Reddit and even soccer forums.
One other individual posted, “I suppose he ought to droop himself then. He is a main propaganda distributor.” Several other users shared the screenshot, as nicely.
Nevertheless, Musk by no means posted the quote. We discovered no credible reporting mentioning the looks of such an announcement. Additional, as one consumer pointed out, no replies existed accusing Musk of posting after which deleting the phrases at across the time a consumer created the first-ever post with the precise phrases “anybody caught selling propaganda” — on Sept. 7, 2024. That publish was a response to a different consumer who could have first posted the pretend publish screenshot simply minutes earlier.
It is potential the consumer who created the pretend Musk quote was impressed by information protection on the time of a overseas propaganda effort centered on social media. On Sept. 5, the U.S. Justice Division alleged a Tennessee-based content material creation firm named Tenet Media paid some right-wing influencers with massive followings on X to advertise Russian propaganda.
Whereas it is potential Musk as soon as posted a comment with related phrasing, we discovered no file of statements by him utilizing these precise phrases. We are going to replace this story sooner or later if we uncover any such related posts or quotes.
5 Occasions Elon Musk Truly Did Threaten Suspension for Coverage Violations
Whereas Musk by no means posted the message mentioned above, we did word 5 different instances he posted public statements threatening suspensions for violations of particular platform insurance policies.
For instance, in July 2020 — previous to his buy of Twitter — Musk posted, “Accounts that unequivocally advocate harassment ought to be suspended with warning, then shut down if repeated.”
In November 2022, he posted, “Going ahead, any Twitter handles participating in impersonation with out clearly specifying ‘parody’ can be completely suspended.”
One month later, Musk shared his ideas concerning the act of doxxing, saying, “Any account doxxing real-time location information of anybody can be suspended, as it’s a bodily security violation. This contains posting hyperlinks to websites with real-time location information. Posting places somebody traveled to on a barely delayed foundation is not a security downside, so is okay.”
In June 2023, he posted of makes an attempt to “recreation” the platform’s verification system, “Accounts that attempt to recreation our verification system with non-sequitur self-promotion or promote in a deceptive means can be suspended.”
Then, in April 2024, he noted of engagement farming, “Any accounts doing engagement farming can be suspended and traced to supply.”
