Washington, United States

Elon Musk's social media platform, X, is facing criticism over its crowd-sourced fact-checking feature, Community Notes. The fact-checker is reportedly underperforming and is "failing to counter false" information related to the upcoming US elections.

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Failed in over 70 per cent of cases

According to a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), 74 per cent — amounting to 209 posts — of the 283 misleading election-related posts it reviewed did not display accurate fact-checking notes to all users, allowing unchecked claims to reach billions.

"The 209 misleading posts in our sample that did not display available Community Notes to all users have amassed 2.2 billion views," said the CCDH, urging Musk's X to invest in safety and transparency.

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In a post on X, CCDH revealed that among the misleading election posts were debunked claims like the "Democrats are importing illegal voters," or "Trump can't run for presidency," and the one claim touted by Trump himself — "The 2020 election was stolen".

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X community notes

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The social media giant's "Community Notes", launched last year, empowers users rather than a dedicated fact-checking team to highlight and counter false content. However, CCDH argues this method may be inadequate for moderating critical information about the upcoming election.

"The problem is that for a Community Note to be shown, it requires consensus, and on polarizing issues, that consensus is rarely reached. As a result, Community Notes fail precisely where they are needed most," said the organisation on its website.

This report follows after X lost a lawsuit brought by the CCDH, which accused the platform of allowing hate speech to increase.

Additionally, in August, election officials from five US states urged Musk in August of this year to address issues with X's AI chatbot, which they claim has been responsible for spreading election-related misinformation.

Musk, who has been big on endorsing Republican Donald Trump's presidential campaign, has himself faced accusations of sharing misleading information. 

(With inputs from agencies)