'Misinformation megaphone': Musk stokes tension before US election

Musk has amplified debunked falsehoods from politicians, including Trump, that Democrats are 'importing' migrants into the United States to vote in the November election and that immigrants from Haiti in Ohio were killing and eating pets. — AFP

WASHINGTON: With incendiary, misleading posts to his 200 million followers, Elon Musk has courted criticism for cranking up the political temperature ahead of an already polarised US election through his influential platform that is plagued with misinformation.

Researchers fear there may be little to stop Musk– who has endorsed Donald Trump – from using X, formerly Twitter, and his personal account to sway voters in favour of the Republican nominee, call into question the legitimacy of the electoral process, and provoke violence against political rivals and poll workers.