Musk Boosts Four Favorite Misinformation Superspreaders
Musk Boosts Four Favorite Misinformation Superspreaders
PLUS: Doctored Photos Link Harris and Trump to Diddy; AI Country Song Targets Zelensky
Welcome to Reality Check, your inside look at how misinformation online is undermining trust — and who’s behind it.
Today:
The Musk Effect: X’s owner boosts misinformation superspreaders by engaging with them
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump falsely linked to Diddy in doctored media
Pro-Russia accounts spread AI country song attacking Zelensky
And more…
Today’s newsletter was edited by Jack Brewster, Eric Effron, and Sofia Rubinson.
1. Misinformation Superspreaders Get Big Boost from Musk
By Jack Brewster, Sarah Komar, and Isaiah Glick
Elon Musk is one of the most prolific spreaders of misinformation on his platform: He has directly advanced 17 false narratives that appear in NewsGuard’s database of 2,757 provably false claims known as Misinformation Fingerprints. But his role in spreading misinformation extends far beyond his personal X account. A new analysis by NewsGuard has found that in addition to his own stream of false claims, Musk is a frequent booster of other misinformation superspreaders, helping through his engagement to increase their follower counts dramatically.
What happened: Between January and June 2024, four of the five accounts Musk engaged with most frequently on X, according to a NewsGuard analysis, were repeat spreaders of misinformation — meaning each had been previously flagged by NewsGuard for advancing at least seven false claims.
Musk’s massive X following makes his amplification of false information especially significant. With 199 million followers, Musk has 22 times the number of followers as the official White House account, nine times more than The Wall Street Journal, three times more than The New York Times, and twice as many as pop star Taylor Swift.
A closer look: We reviewed more than 4,000 of Musk’s posts from Jan. 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024, to see which accounts he interacted with most frequently. Interactions include when Musk posts a link, quotes a post, responds to a post, or reposts.
Here are the top five accounts that Musk engaged with over this six-month period, according to NewsGuard’s review:
@EndWokeness (220 Musk interactions), a conservative commentator, has spread nine false claims, including that Haitian migrants are stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, and that the body of a five-month-old Palestinian baby killed in the Israel-Hamas war was actually a silicone doll. Musk engaged with this account more than once per day, on average, during the six-month period.
@WallStreetSilv (181 interactions), a conservative commentator, has spread 12 false claims, including that AMC Theatres suppressed ticket sales for a recently released film about child trafficking and that Kamala Harris’ campaign adopted the German Nazi regime slogan “Strength through Joy.”
@stillgray (174 interactions), a conservative commentator, has spread eight false claims, including that a UN report called for decriminalizing pedophilia and that Ukraine sold Hamas weapons that were donated from the West.
@libsoftiktok (132 interactions), a conservative commentator, has spread seven false claims, including that a Venezuelan gang took over a Chicago apartment building and that U.S. and Canadian schools provide litter boxes to children who self-identify as cats.
@Not_the_Bee (114 interactions) is the X account of Notthebee.com, a news and humor website run by the founder of satire site The Babylon Bee. NewsGuard has not found that it spread false claims.
The Musk Effect? Musk’s frequent engagement with these accounts may have played a role in their follower growth, according to data from social media analytics site SocialBlade.
Over this six-month period from January 2024 to June 2024, @EndWokeness’s follower count increased from 2 million to 2.6 million, a 30 percent increase. @WallStreetSilv grew from 1.1 million to 1.35 million, a 22.7 percent increase. @stillgray increased from 879,000 to 1 million, a 13.8 percent increase, and @libsoftiktok saw an increase from 2.7 million to 3.1 million, a 14.8 percent increase. @Not_the_Bee experienced an increase from 373,000 to 429,000, representing a 15 percent growth.
Mainstream accounts saw modest growth during the same time period. For example, between January 2024 and June 2024, The New York Times (@nytimes) saw an increase of only 0.05 percent, growing from 55.19 million followers to 55.22 million. The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) had a slight decline, dropping from 20.64 million to 20.63 million. The official White House account (@WhiteHouse) had a modest increase of 0.85 percent, growing from 8.79 million to 8.86 million.
NewsGuard sent an email message to X, Tesla, and SpaceX inquiring about the above but did not immediately receive a response. @EndWokeness, @stillgray, and @libsoftiktok did not immediately respond to direct messages from NewsGuard inquiring about the above. NewsGuard also sent a message to @WallStreetSilv using a contact form listed on the user’s X profile.
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2. Did He? Kamala Harris, Donald Trump Both Targeted by Fake Diddy Claims
What happened: Following rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs Sept. 16, 2024, arrest on sex-related charges, conservative and liberal social media users are spreading fake photos and videos to claim that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have ties with the disgraced music mogul.
A closer look: Conservatives are using a fake image and misleading captions to claim that Vice President Kamala Harris has been seen with Combs multiple times and that she has attended his notorious “freak-offs” parties — during which prosecutors allege Combs watched attendees perform sexual acts.
Users posted an image showing Harris on a red carpet beside Combs, with captions implying that Harris is complicit in his alleged crimes. Others posted a video that depicts Harris with a Black man on the same red carpet who users falsely identify as Combs.
Some social media accounts got millions of views by posting the video with identical captions, seemingly in a coordinated bot network, that stated the video proves that Harris “isn’t a stranger to Diddy parties.”
Actually: The photo showing Harris next to Combs was digitally altered, and the video does not depict Combs.
The original image, taken from a 2001 fundraising event, actually shows Harris standing next to her then-boyfriend Montel Williams. Williams’ head was swapped with Combs’ in the manipulated version.
The video is from the same event and also shows Harris with Williams. It was originally published by Inside Edition (NewsGuard Trust Score: 92.5/100).
NewsGuard did not find any credible reporting that placed Harris and Combs together.
The only documented interaction between Harris and Combs that NewsGuard found is an April 2020 tweet from Harris, in which she thanked Combs for hosting a town hall addressing racial disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How it took off: The doctored image was created by conservative meme X account @grandoldmemes, whose watermark appears on the top right corner of the image.
The account frequently posts noticeably doctored images that paint Democrats in a negative light and offers a service on its website in which users can request and buy customized memes. (@grandoldmemes did not respond to an emailed request for comment.)
The image was then posted by conservative accounts without the context that it was originally created as a meme.
Former President Donald Trump amplified the image by briefly reposting it on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sept. 19, 2024. The image he reposted was captioned: “Kamala Doing the Diddy? Madam Vice President, Have You Ever Been Involved With or Engaged In One of Puff Daddies Freak Offs?” The repost was subsequently removed without explanation.
Not just Harris: Trump was also the target of a doctored photo and video with Combs, although the posts did not receive the same level of traction as the Harris photo.
In April 2024, after federal agents raided Combs’ residence, an unknown actor digitally added Combs to an already AI-generated image that showed Trump with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein surrounded by young women. The photo spread modestly among some liberal social media users.
For example, liberal X user @GinnyMcDonald8 posted the doctored image on April 12, 2024, with the caption, “Bible study.” The post received just over 800 views and 45 likes as of Sept. 26, 2024.
In September 2024, a digitally manipulated video that purports to show Trump interviewing Combs also spread on social media. The video was created by the YouTube account THE TALK, which says it makes “conversations that never took place between people who never met.”
The highest engagement example of this video NewsGuard found was posted on Sept. 18, 2024, by liberal TikTok user @chittybangbang9, which received approximately 600,000 views and 17,000 likes in one week.
Tricks of our trade: Determining if an image or video is digitally altered can be difficult. Here are some tips on how we analyzed the Combs-Harris photo:
Although the watermark clearly indicates the image was digitally manipulated, its subtle placement makes it blend into the background and is easy to overlook. (In fact, NewsGuard added a red circle around the watermark in the photo below because it is so hard to see!)
A reverse image search reveals the original photo, published by Getty Images, with Combs’ face taken from a 2020 Grammy Awards red carpet photo captured by photo agency WireImage.
A close inspection of the image reveals inconsistencies around Combs’ head, with his face appearing in higher resolution than the rest of the photo and unnatural blending visible between his neck and shirt.
Combs is in custody on federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors allege that Comb used his status and resources to “fulfill his sexual desires” in a “recurrent and widely known” pattern of abuse at parties known as “freak-offs.” Combs pleaded not guilty to all charges on Sept. 17, 2024. Epstein, shown in the Trump doctored photo, pleaded guilty to two prostitution charges and died in prison after serving for 13 months.
Click here to find out more about NewsGuard Trust Scores and our process for rating websites. You can download NewsGuard’s browser extension, which displays NewsGuard Trust Score icons next to links on search engines, social media feeds, and other platforms by clicking here.
3. One more thing … Kremlin Bots Spread AI-Generated Country Song Attacking Zelensky
Two-stepping into disinfo?
What happened: Pro-Kremlin bots are circulating a country music video advancing false claims about Ukrainian President Volodoymr Zelensky and mocking the U.S. presidential election.
The song says: “They’re killing countries, bombs and with lies 🎶 supporting a drug addict who’s lost in the skies 🎶”
You can watch the music video here:
These accounts are linked to Doppelgänger, a Russian disinformation operation named for its tactic of crafting counterfeit versions of reputable media outlets, according to Antibot4navalny, an anonymously-run volunteer group that tracks Russian influence operations.
A closer look: The video, accompanied by what appears to be AI-generated country music, shows altered images of Zelensky snorting cocaine — some that look real, some clearly fake — as the country song states that America “supports a drug addict.”
The video also shows stock photos of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, while a purported country musician sings: “America’s gone crazy, lost in the night 🎶 two fools fighting for power, with no end in sight 🎶”
Context: Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, pro-Kremlin media and Russian officials have attempted to discredit Zelensky, including by labeling him as a drug addict. (There is no evidence that Zelensky uses cocaine or other illicit drugs.)
In April 2022, pro-Russian accounts altered a video depicting a conference call between Zelensky and Elon Musk to add white powder and a credit card on Zelensky’s desk. (Reality Check subscribers can read NewsGuard’s Misinformation Fingerprint for this claim.)
Where it spread: Within 24 hours of first appearing on Sept. 18, 2024, the music video was shared by 164 doppelgänger-linked accounts, according to findings shared with NewsGuard by Antibot4navalny. These accounts have names including “BenjaminJo,” “AmyRivas,” and “Jason Brown.”
The video circulated in English, Turkish, French, Polish, Ukrainian, and German, and racked up tens of thousands of views.
A Russian music studio? It’s unlikely Doppelgänger is recording country albums to produce these videos. The audio bears the hallmarks of artificial intelligence, according to a digital forensics expert.
Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Doppelgänger apparently used AI to create a music video ridiculing the Olympic Games, falsely purporting to come from Russian rave band Little Big. (Reality Check subscribers can read NewsGuard’s Misinformation Fingerprint for this claim.)
Free range on X: As of Sept. 24, 2024, 124 of the Doppelgänger-linked X accounts that shared the country music video remained on the platform, in apparent violation of X’s policies, which states that the platform prohibits “coordinated activity that attempts to artificially influence conversations through the use of multiple accounts.” The remaining 40 accounts have since been suspended.
X did not respond to a September 2024 email from NewsGuard seeking comment.
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