Elon Musk’s X Misinformation Wave Could Shape US Election Equation
Social media content moderation on Elon Musk’s X is facing scrutinizing backlash for spreading misinformation during the US 2024 presidential election, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate reports that Musk’s statements, reaching over 200 million followers, have contributed to the rapid dissemination of falsehoods surrounding the election.
“Musk’s statements have contributed to the unchecked spread of election-related misinformation, with his posts reaching over 1.2 billion views on X, amplifying misleading claims without adequate fact-checking or moderation.” Center for Countering Digital Hate claimed through a report
Musk’s Role in Amplifying Misinformation
Since Musk took over Twitter in 2022, the platform has seen a marked decline in content moderation services, as he significantly reduced the team responsible for identifying and removing harmful content.
Surprisingly, 87 of Musk’s posts in 2023 were found to be false, reaching 2 billion views.
Negligence in content moderation in social media alarmed experts. Kathleen Carley, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon, noted that X has effectively become a “hub” for misinformation, which then spreads to other platforms like Reddit, Telegram, and Facebook.
In Pennsylvania, false accusations of voter suppression, fueled by misrepresentations on X, have created confusion among the electorate.
“There was voter fraud, when in fact, we know very clearly that election officials and election administrators in all of our counties were following the rules and therefore only eligible voters are voting,” Hensley-Robin said.
Philip Hensley-Robin, a spokesperson for Common Cause, explained that these selected registration checks are a normal procedure to check voter eligibility. However, misleading information online has sparked widespread mistrust among voters and officials alike, leading to increased concern about the reliability of the election process.
The Case of Trump’s Destroyed Ballots
The viral video showing Trump’s mail-in ballots being destroyed, shared by an account with over 100,000 followers, gained traction in a blink of an eye and was viewed by millions, and then was claimed false information.
Cyabra and other AI driven companies, which specialize in detecting online disinformation, warned that manipulated content like this is particularly damaging because of the speed at which it circulates on social media, misleading large audiences.
The Broader Implications for the 2024 Election
Nowadays, social media is shaping political discourse and influencing public opinions. The lack of social media content moderation on X has made misinformation spread easier, with Musk’s own posts often acting as a catalyst for the viral spread of lies.
The benefits of social media content moderation are to separate fact from fiction in the online sphere. Experts are calling for a strong digital services act content moderation to ensure that the accuracy of future elections.
As the influence of Elon Musk and other characters on social media grows, the importance of content moderation in social media becomes clearer and the battle against online misinformation will be shaping the outcome of the 2024 US presidential election.
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