Elon Musk says West attempts to influence X, not Russia
3 Min Read
In an episode of In Good Company, Elon Musk rejected accusations claiming X spreads Russian misinformation.
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Elon Musk appears at an event in London, on Nov. 2, 2023 (AP)
Elon Musk denied and rejected claims of X, his social media platform, promoting misinformation by Russia.
The self-acclaimed free-speech advocate has been constantly accused of transforming X into a more vulnerable platform for Russian pursuits by changing its regulations and protocols in 2022.
Speaking on the In Good Company podcast on Tuesday, Musk said does not see plenty of Russian activity. “We do see a lot of attempts to influence things, but they seem to be coming from the West, not from Russia," he said.
This came after host Nicolai Tangen said Germany experiences a lot of concealed Russian activity via fake accounts on several social media platforms, alluding to assertions made by Berlin earlier in January.
According to the German government, the deployment of specialized monitoring software enabled the identification of approximately 50,000 fake accounts promoting a pro-Russian disinformation campaign on X. Reports from local media suggested that the messaging closely mirrored that of the right-wing opposition party AfD.
Musk claimed X was the most trusted internet source to obtain the truth due to its fact-checking system, surpassing conventional news media outlets.
Elon Musk says US gov't censoring social media against free speech
Previously, Musk claimed that his investment in turning social media into a free-speech platform has made him and all of his businesses a target for attacks by governments and censorship attempts.
On X, Musk stated, “The public still doesn’t understand even a tiny fraction of the power of the censorship-government-industrial complex,” adding, “As predicted, my companies and I came under relentless attack the moment the censorship of this platform was lifted. How far will they go to stop me?”
This post was in response to a post by podcast host David Sacks, who said that “regime Democrats” are trying to downplay Americans’ free-speech rights and freedom from political persecution, after which Musk also agreed that political enemies are “just getting started” following the Delaware court ruling late last month that voided his $56 billion compensation package at Tesla.
America’s richest man, with an estimated fortune by Forbes at more than $200 billion, vowed to end censorship by the government and be a voice for free speech after his Twitter takeover in 2022, after which US President Joe Biden suggested Musk should be investigated by the federal government.
Read more: Elon Musk mocks US accusations of Iran being a 'warmonger'
