In the spring of 2020, when President Donald J. Trump wrote messages on Twitter warning that increased reliance on mail-in ballots would lead to a “rigged election,” the platform ran a corrective, debunking his claims.

“Get the facts about mail-in voting,” a content label read. “Experts say mail-in ballots are very rarely linked to voter fraud,” the hyperlinked article declared.

This month, Elon Musk, who has since bought Twitter and rebranded it X, echoed several of Mr. Trump’s claims about the American voting system, putting forth distorted and false notions that American elections were wide open for fraud and illegal voting by noncitizens.

This time, there were no fact checks. And the X algorithm — under Mr. Musk’s direct control — helped the posts reach large audiences, in some cases drawing many millions of views.

Since taking control of the site, Mr. Musk has dismantled the platform’s system for flagging false election content, arguing it amounted to election interference.

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    • @Zorg@lemmings.world
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      55 months ago

      3rd party only works if it’s popular enough to replace one of the two ruling parties. FPTP does not allow for three large parties to coexist. There is no US 3rd party even remotely close to having a tiny chance at replacing anyone.

      • Zuberi 👀
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        5 months ago

        Bro if you haven’t looked at the unrest towards Biden on the left and the unrest towards Trump on the right, you aren’t paying attention.

        • @LarmyOfLone@lemm.ee
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          15 months ago

          There are similar things happening in Europe too. Because of the fascist parties rising, the “moderates” (corporatists) don’t have to do progressive politics. Because they know you basically have no choice but to vote for them. I believe this is part of the strategy of these donors, not for the fascists to win, but to undermine progressive politics or action on climate change.

    • @LarmyOfLone@lemm.ee
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      25 months ago

      What’s MIC? Does it stand for democracy in the US, which you are hoping to end by voting third party :D