Godfather of Fake News
X-formerly-Twitter owner Elon Musk just can’t stop falling for fake news on his own social media network.
The platform has rapidly devolved into a cesspool of disinformation and hate speech under his leadership — with Musk himself greatly contributing to the trend.
Most recently, Musk commented on a completely made-up and easily disproven story about UK prime minister Keir Starmer “considering building ’emergency detainment camps’ on the Falkland Islands,” a preposterous attempt to sow discord.
While Musk later deleted his post, the mercurial CEO had already done plenty of damage. According to one report, the tweet had already been viewed at least 1.8 million times.
Musk has yet to acknowledge his self-own.
“Just Elon Musk quote tweeting the co-leader of far-right party, Britain First, who is sharing a fake Telegraph headline,” Politics.co.uk editor Josh Self tweeted. “Utterly dystopian.”
Proudly Gullible
It’s far from the first time Musk has publicly misled his 193 million followers by actively spreading fake news. Late last month, Musk cosigned a meme that read: “If you ever feel dumb, just remember there are some people who still believe everything shown in [sic] news.”
Hours later, he shared a video that purported to show “armed communist Maduro gangs ‘Colectivos’ are now storming polling stations in Punta Cardón” — which later turned out to instead show thieves stealing air conditioners.
In other words, he immediately outed himself as one of those same gullible fools who fall for anything that flatters their preconceptions.
Musk has also pushed plenty of other false narratives. Last month, he completely ignored his own social media network’s content policies by sharing an unlabeled AI-generated video of vice president Kamala Harris.
Instead of apologizing following his latest fake news slip-up, Musk dug in his heels, taking another potshot at the UK’s new Labour government by accusing them of being “the woke Stasi” for trying to quell far-right riots plaguing several UK cities.
The lashing out highlights Musk’s sharp veering to the far right, most recently endorsing former president and fellow fake news champion Donald Trump.
Has the mercurial CEO lost complete touch with reality — or is he perhaps convinced that he could financially benefit from seeding chaos online? Considering he’s spending most of his time on X these days, a place that has been overrun by white nationalists, conspiracy theorists, and disinformation campaigns, it’s likely a mix of both.
More on fake news: Elon Musk Bashes the News Media, Then Immediately Falls for Fake News
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