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2024 US presidential election: Elon Musk’s X ineffective at curbing election disinformation: Report
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2024 US presidential election: Elon Musk’s X ineffective at curbing election disinformation: Report

Elon Musk X’s fact-checking feature Community Notes “fails to counter false claims” about the US election, the Center to Combat Digital Hate (CCDH) said in a report on Wednesday.

Of the 283 misleading posts CCDH analyzed, 209 or 74 percent of the posts did not show accurate grades for all X users correcting false and misleading claims about the election, the report said.

“The 209 misleading posts in our sample that did not display the community notes available to all users garnered 2.2 billion views,” CCDH said, urging the company to invest in security and transparency.

X did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

X launched its “Community Notes” feature last year, which allows users to comment on posts to flag false or misleading content, effectively fact-checking users rather than a dedicated team of fact-checkers.

The report comes after X lost a lawsuit filed by the CCDH earlier this year, which faulted her for allowing an increase in hate speech on the social media platform.

Social media platforms, including X, have come under scrutiny for years for spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories, including false information about elections and vaccines.

Secretaries of state from five US states urged billionaire Musk in August to fix X’s AI chatbot, saying it had spread misinformation related to the Nov. 5 election.

Musk, who endorsed the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in July, he himself was accused of spreading disinformation. Polls show Trump in a tight race with the Democratic vice president Kamala Harris.

Posted by:

Girish Kumar Anshul

Published on:

October 31, 2024