A system designed to let social media users police misinformation is struggling to keep pace with false claims circulating ahead of the US midterm elections. An analysis by NewsGuard found that X’s Community Notes failed to attach corrections to 93.1 per cent of the false election-related claims identified by the media credibility watchdog, leaving misleading posts accessible to millions of users.
The findings raise questions about whether crowd-sourced moderation can reliably address politically charged misinformation, particularly when claims spread rapidly on a platform with a large audience. The study identified dozens of posts containing false assertions about the elections, including allegations of electoral fraud and inaccurate statements about voter identification rules.
Only 13 of the posts examined received Community Notes, according to NewsGuard. The uncorrected claims continued to attract millions of interactions in the run-up to the November 3 midterm elections.
The results also put the spotlight on Elon Musk, who has repeatedly endorsed the system as an alternative to conventional fact-checking. At least four false claims about the midterms promoted by the billionaire were identified by NewsGuard, but none received a Community Note, the watchdog said.
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A system designed to let social media users police misinformation is struggling to keep pace with false claims circulating ahead of the US midterm elections. An analysis by NewsGuard found that X’...