SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
center for countering digital hate
Add $24 Million Worth of Pro-Trump Tweets to Elon Musk's Campaign Giving Total
"Given the sheer frequency of Elon Musk's posting of disinformation and partisan rhetoric, it is almost inevitable that he will be one of the top spreaders of election-related disinformation in this cycle," one expert said.
Nov 04, 2024
Since richest-man-alive and X-owner Elon Musk endorsed former Donald Trump for president in July, he has emerged as the No. 1. financial backer of Republican candidate's campaign. But his support hasn't only come in outright donations. His tweets in support of the former president, according to a new analysis, are worth a total of $24 million.
In a report published Monday, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found that Musk's political posts between July 13 and October 25 received over twice as many views as U.S. "political campaigning ads" run on X during that time. If any of those advertisers had wanted to reach the same number of people as Musk, they would have had to pay $24 million.
"X has long dropped its pretense to be anything but a loudspeaker for its owner's opinions, personal vendettas, and conspiracies," CCDH wrote on the platform as it shared the report.
Since he endorsed Trump, Musk made a total of 746 posts that mentioned key terms such as "Donald Trump," "Kamala Harris," "voting," or "ballots." These posts were viewed a total of 17.1 billion times compared with 7.7 billion times for all paid political ads.
What's more, at least 87 of Musk's election-themed posts between January 1 and October 23 contained "false or misleading about the presidential election."
These were seen 2 billion times, and none of them was appended by a "community note," a mechanism by which X users can fact-check or provide context to inaccurate posts.
CCDH pointed to two main genres of misleading tweet shared by Musk: those claiming that the Democratic Party was importing immigrant voters and those claiming that U.S. voting systems are not reliable.
For example, on September 18, Musk wrote: "The Dem administrative state is flying millions of future voters directly into swing states. They are being sent to cities and towns throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Arizona. Given that this is a sure path to permanent one-party rule, it is a very smart strategy."
Musk made more than 66 posts along these lines that were seen nearly 1.3 billion times.
Fact-checkers say these claims are false because it takes years for an immigrant to become a U.S. citizen and to be able to vote, and there would be no guarantee that such a person would vote for the Democrats. Existing laws already penalize noncitizens who vote with either deportation or incarceration.
In an example of the second category of lie, Musk wrote on September 4 that "not requiring ID, combined with mail in voting, makes it completely impossible to prove fraud (obviously)."
Musk has made 19 of these types of posts targeting either mail-in or electronic voting, which were viewed almost 532 million times. However, research has shown that voter fraud related to either mail-in voting or drop boxes is exceedingly rare. A full 36 states mandate that voters show an ID before voting, while 14 others have other ways of confirming identity, such as checking a signature against one on file. In all states, voter fraud is against the law.
"Given the sheer frequency of Elon Musk's posting of disinformation and partisan rhetoric, it is almost inevitable that he will be one of the top spreaders of election-related disinformation in this cycle," CCDH founder Imran Ahmed told CNN.
"He is using the platform to persuade people that elections are rigged," Ahmed continued, adding "it is such a tragic waste of a phenomenally powerful tool."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Musk's X Targeted in First Probe Under EU Digital Safety Law
"The time of big online platforms behaving like they are 'too big to care' has come to an end," one official said.
Dec 18, 2023
The European Commission on Monday announced that it was opening an investigation into X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that was purchased by billionaire Elon Musk a little more than one year ago.
The investigation marks the first under the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires large platforms to limit illegal posts and protect public security, as Reuters reported. It is also possibly the biggest regulatory action against X so far, according to The New York Times.
"Today's opening of formal proceedings against X makes it clear that, with the DSA, the time of big online platforms behaving like they are 'too big to care' has come to an end," E.U. Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton said in a statement. "We now have clear rules, ex ante obligations, strong oversight, speedy enforcement, and deterrent sanctions and we will make full use of our toolbox to protect our citizens and democracies."
"We are delighted that new regulators are flexing their powers to hold social media companies to account."
Since acquiring Twitter in 2022, Musk has been widely criticized for his management of the site, in particular for weakening policies aimed at moderating content and limiting the spread of false information. The site's advertising revenue fell by 60% from August 2022 to August 2023, as Reuters reported. And the platform hemorrhaged even more ad revenue last month after Musk expressed support for an antisemitic conspiracy theory, according to The New York Times.
In a post on Monday, Breton said he was investigating X for "suspected breach of obligations to counter illegal content and disinformation, suspected breach of transparency obligations, and suspected deceptive design of user interface."
In particular, the investigation will consider the process by which X takes down illegal content flagged by E.U. authorities, the effectiveness of its community notes system for countering disinformation, whether the switch in meaning of the blue checkmark—from verified to paid user—is a "deceptive design," and whether it has complied with E.U. language requirements, The Guardian reported. For example, there are reports X only employs one content moderator to cover the Netherlands.
The announcement comes after Breton sent a letter to X, Meta, TikTok, and Alphabet reminding them that they were required under the DSA to limit harmful and illegal content in the wake of Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, according to Reuters.
Musk responded to Breton on X, challenging him to publicize any violations in the name of transparency.
"You are well aware of your users'—and authorities'—reports on fake content and glorification of violence," Breton replied. "Up to you to demonstrate that you walk the talk."
Responding to the news of the investigation, X said it "remains committed to complying with the Digital Services Act and is cooperating with the regulatory process. It is important that this process remains free of political influence and follows the law."
"X is focused on creating a safe and inclusive environment for all users on our platform, while protecting freedom of expression, and we will continue to work tirelessly towards this goal," the company statement continued.
Imran Ahmed, the founder and CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), said on X that his organization had provided the E.U. with information and called the investigation "a good first step."
"CCDH has campaigned for many years for meaningful regulation of social media companies, with transparency as a central pillar, and we are delighted that new regulators are flexing their powers to hold social media companies to account," Ahmed continued in a statement.
The E.U. said the investigation would take as long as necessary, according to The Guardian. If found in violation of the DSA, X could be fined 6% of its global income or barred from the E.U.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Straight Out of the Authoritarian Playbook': Watchdog Sued By Musk's X Hits Back
"Musk is trying to 'shoot the messenger' who highlights the toxic content on his platform rather than deal with the toxic environment he's created."
Aug 01, 2023
The internet watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate hit back at billionaire Elon Musk Tuesday after X—his company formerly known as Twitter—sued the organization over its research into the dissemination of hate speech on the social media platform.
In a complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco, X accused the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH)—a nonprofit with offices in the U.S. and United Kingdom—of "using flawed methodologies to advance incorrect, misleading narratives" and engaging in a series of unlawful acts designed to improperly gain access to protected X Corp. data" after the group published research critical of the social platform's failure to tackle hate speech.
One CCDH analysis found that X failed to remove 99% of hate speech posted by Twitter Blue users, who pay an $8 monthly subscription fee.
"Elon Musk's latest legal move is straight out of the authoritarian playbook—he is now showing he will stop at nothing to silence anyone who criticizes him for his own decisions and actions," CCDH founder and CEO Imran Ahmed said in response to X's lawsuit.
"The Center for Countering Digital Hate's research shows that hate and disinformation is spreading like wildfire on the platform under Musk's ownership and this lawsuit is a direct attempt to silence those efforts," Ahmed continued. "People don't want to see or be associated with hate, antisemitism, and the dangerous content that we all see proliferating on X."
"Musk is trying to 'shoot the messenger' who highlights the toxic content on his platform rather than deal with the toxic environment he's created," he added. "CCDH has no intention of stopping our independent research—Musk will not bully us into silence."
Since purchasing Twitter for $44 billion last year, Musk has laid off around 80% of the company's workforce, including many content moderators. Last December, the company dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, an independent advisory board of around 100 human and civil rights experts.
Meanwhile, Musk—who describes himself as a "free speech absolutist" even as he allegedly purges left-wing users—has welcomed or reinstated the accounts of white supremacists, anti-LGBTQ+ bigots, election conspiracy theorists, antisemites, and others.
"This is an unprecedented escalation by a social media company against independent researchers. Musk has just declared open war," Ahmed told The Associated Press on Sunday. "If Musk succeeds in silencing us other researchers will be next in line."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular