Elon Musk, the Chairman of X (formerly Twitter), has emerged as one of the leading sources of misinformation on his own platform, surpassing major entities like the Russian News Agency TASS, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and even controversial accounts like “End Wokeness.”
Despite his role as the head of X, Musk ranks 55th on the Community Notes Leaderboard—a site that tracks X users who have received the most notes for misinformation. Musk has accumulated 89 Community Notes to date.
Musk’s record for flagged content even surpasses that of the Russian News Agency (TASS), a state-controlled media outlet notorious for spreading disinformation, especially in the context of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. TASS, a frequent subject of scrutiny on X, ranks 59th with 84 notes, but still falls short of Musk’s tally of user-driven corrections.
Ironically, Musk’s own Community Notes feature—designed to enable X users to fact-check and correct misleading information—has become a tool frequently used against him. Musk, who rebranded the platform with a promise of promoting open and transparent communication, now stands as the most community-noted individual for spreading misinformation.
Musk has faced significant criticism for amplifying unverified or false claims on the platform, often engaging in heated debates on hot-button issues. His tweets, which have an enormous reach due to his 200 million followers, are regularly subjected to fact-checking.
Despite the criticism, Musk continues to be vocal on a wide range of topics, leading to more community notes than any other high-profile figure.
The X chairman has also been under fire for suspending the accounts of several journalists, despite previously advocating for “free speech.” He later suggested that the suspensions were due to violations of the platform’s updated terms of service regarding “doxxing”—the disclosure of personal details online—though it was unclear which rules had been breached.