10/31/2024 | UPONSOFT

The crowd-sourced fact-checking feature of Elon Musk’s X, Community Notes, is “failing to counter false” claims about the U.S. election, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) said in a report Wednesday.

Out of the 283 misleading posts that CCDH has analyzed on the digital social media platform, 209 or 74% of the posts did not show accurate notes to all X users correcting false and misleading claims about the elections, the report said.

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

X did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

X launched its “Community Notes” feature last year, which allows users to comment on posts to flag false or misleading content, in effect crowd-sourcing fact checking to users rather than a dedicated team of fact checkers.

The report comes after X lost a lawsuit brought by CCDH earlier this year that faulted it for allowing a rise in hate speech on the social media platform.

Social media platforms, including X, have been under scrutiny for years over the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories, including false information about elections and vaccines.

Secretaries of state from five U.S. states urged billionaire Musk in August to fix X’s AI chatbot, saying it had spread misinformation related to the November 5 election.

Musk, who endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in July, himself has been accused of spreading misinformation. Polls show Trump is in a tight race with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
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washington — President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, who dressed as a giant panda, hosted trick-or-treaters on the White House South Lawn on Wednesday for the last time.

The first lady had participated in the National Zoo’s announcement earlier this year that pandas would be returning to Washington. They arrived in the nation’s capital in mid-October and Jill Biden donned the panda suit Wednesday as a “welcoming gesture,” the White House said.

Jill Biden added an educational theme to the event and named it “Hallo-Read” to help encourage reading. She has been a teacher for 40 years. Earlier Wednesday, she read a short story about spooky pumpkins to a group of costumed children gathered on the lawn.

She and the president later ventured outside at sunset and spent about an hour handing out treats. Biden, in a suit and tie, dropped boxes of White House Hershey’s Kisses chocolates in the kids’ tote bags while the first lady handed out copies of “10 Spooky Pumpkins.”

Up to 8,000 people, including students and children tied to the military, were expected to pass through the White House gates during the day.

A large orange moon and a sign that said “Hallow-Read at the White House” decorated the south face of the executive mansion. The decorations also included cardboard representations of Willow, the family cat who is rarely seen in public, and stacks of books. Giant pumpkin decorations flanked the door.

Biden dropped his bid for reelection in July. He leaves office in January.
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