Elon Musk is under fire for sharing a video clip that falsely claimed armed communist gangs had stormed voting stations in Venezuela. Musk tweeted the clip with the caption, “This is messed up.” However, his own company’s community notes soon corrected the billionaire businessman and stated that the video actually showed thieves “stealing air conditioners.” The community note went on to declare that elections in Venezuela “look nothing like what appears in this video.” Musk quietly deleted his tweet without further comment.
The Twitter owner was similarly criticized after he posted an artificial intelligence (AI) generated video of Vice President Kamala Harris without adding a note explaining that the video was a fake. In the footage, Harris appears to refer to herself as a “DEI hire” and call President Biden “senile.” Analysts say that Musk broke his own company’s rules by sharing the clip without a disclaimer clarifying that the Vice President’s voice had been generated using AI.
Harris campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg issued a statement taking aim at Musk as well as former President Donald Trump. She said the American people want the freedom and opportunity that Ms. Harris is offering, “not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom also weighed in, saying manipulating the voice of others should be a criminal offense, and promised to pass laws in California to make it so. Fellow Golden State lawmaker Rep. Barbara Lee added her voice and said it demonstrates how “dangerous” social media can be when it doesn’t have “guardrails.”
Elon Musk recently endorsed Donald Trump for President, as rumors spread that he intended to donate $45 million per month to his campaign. Trump mentioned the donation at a subsequent rally, only for Musk to deny the rumor. In an interview with conservative commentator Jordan Peterson, Musk said it was “simply not true,” and he had no intention of making the enormous donation.
Later on Twitter, Musk addressed the issue again and said he would donate to the America PAC, which supports conservative values, but at a “much lower level” than had been suggested.
