The misleading or false statements shared on Twitter by Elon Musk

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BBC compiled false theories and controversial comments on Twitter that Musk has commented on in recent months. Musk and his supporters say they are ‘challenging the established narrative’ EPA via BBC Billionaire Elon Musk has been criticized for sharing false and misleading claims on Twitter, the platform he owns, in recent months, despite claims by his supporters that he it’s just “asking questions” or “challenging the established narrative”. Musk, Twitter’s most followed, is often careful with his words, but regularly interacts with major right-wing accounts in the US, including some known for sharing fake news. The BBC has compiled false theories and controversial Twitter comments that Musk has commented on in recent months. Texas mass shooting Musk has repeatedly questioned evidence showing the suspect in a recent Texas shopping mall mass shooting had neo-Nazi leanings. The shooter’s YouTube and Russian social network Odnoklassniki accounts were first uncovered by open-source investigative group Bellingcat, which revealed photos of a swastika tattoo, long violent rants and a meme that mentioned “Latin kids” and the phrase “becoming a white supremacist”. The accounts were also independently reviewed by the BBC and other journalists, and police claimed the gunman “had neo-Nazi ideology”, although his motivation for killing eight people remains under investigation. But Musk cast doubt on the evidence and, citing no evidence of his own, claimed that Bellingcat had performed “psyops” – “psychological warfare”. Initial plugin text Psychological operations, commonly used in war or against hostile foreign countries, are ways of getting opponents to think or act in a certain way. But the preposterous idea that authorities regularly conduct such operations linked to mass shootings or terrorist attacks to change public opinion has become a common conspiracy theory in US gun circles. Musk has referred to this popular conception of psychopaths several times, including in March when he pledged to combat the “manipulation of public opinion” on Twitter using artificial intelligence. In response, Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins called the Twitter owner “an idiot who consumes junk media.” Questioned by the BBC, Musk did not respond until the conclusion of this report. Initial plugin text Musk repeated the allegations in an interview with broadcaster CNBC last week, claiming that Odnoklassniki was an “obscure” site that “no one has ever heard of”. Odnoklassniki is one of the most popular social networks in Russia, and the existence of the shooter’s profile on the platform was first revealed by the American newspaper The New York Times citing police and security sources, before being discovered by Bellingcat using the search function of the platform. ‘QAnon Shaman’ Musk has cast doubt on some of the details of the January 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol on several occasions, but his most controversial take came in March, when he appeared to suggest that one of the best-known protesters had been wrongfully convicted. Musk claimed on Twitter that Jacob Chansley, aka “QAnon Shaman”, who was sentenced to 41 months in prison, “got 4 years in prison for a non-violent raid escorted by police”. ‘QAnon Shaman’ During Capitol Invasion Reuters via BBC His argument was based on a short video of Chansley walking through the halls of Congress escorted by police, broadcast on former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson’s show. However, Chansley’s further actions on January 6, 2021 were also caught on camera. He repeatedly rejected police orders to leave the building and was filmed screaming inside the Senate chamber. Chansley was charged with six federal crimes and signed a plea agreement accepting that the charge of obstructing official process was “true and accurate”. Attack on Paul Pelosi Musk came under fire last year after sharing a baseless allegation following a violent attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of then-Speaker of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, at his family home by a man who promoted a variety of conspiracy theories right online. A viral false claim about the attack suggested that Paul Pelosi, 82, and his assailant David DePape, 42, were in a same-sex relationship and had an altercation while drunk. While initially marginal, the claim began to gain traction in the United States after Musk tweeted an article from a website with similar claims. The website cited by Musk has a history of publishing inaccurate stories, including a 2016 article that claimed Hillary Clinton was dead. Unlike on other occasions, Musk later deleted the tweet and apologized for the mistake. George Soros Musk has also recently lashed out at billionaire George Soros, whose funding of liberal and progressive causes through his philanthropic foundation has turned him into a bogeyman for conservatives and right-wing activists. Musk claimed that Soros “want to erode the very fabric of civilization” and “hates humanity”. Three days earlier, Soros’ investment fund said it had sold its Tesla shares. Initial plugin text Musk compared Soros to Magneto, a Marvel character who — like Soros — survived the Holocaust. The tweets were condemned by the Anti-Defamation League, the leading Jewish advocacy group in the United States, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Musk, however, denied that his comments were anti-Semitic, telling broadcaster CNBC: “I’m pro-Semitic, to say the least.”

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