{"id":2361824,"date":"2024-10-30T18:12:02","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T22:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/elon-musk-launches-probe-into-harris-inflating-online-support\/"},"modified":"2024-10-30T18:19:43","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T22:19:43","slug":"elon-musk-launches-probe-into-harris-inflating-online-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/elon-musk-launches-probe-into-harris-inflating-online-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk Launches Probe Into Harris Inflating Online Support"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Felon-musk-launches-probe-into-harris-inflating-online-support%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2361824&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Elon Musk announced that he is investigating Vice \u200dPresident Kamala Harris&#8217; campaign for allegedly manipulating social media to artificially inflate her online support. This follows\u2062 reports from The Federalist, detailing \u2063how the campaign purportedly engages in &#8220;astroturfing,&#8221; a practice of creating fake grassroots support to give the illusion of broader backing. Musk&#8217;s\u2064 announcement \u2063comes amid \u200daccusations\u2064 that the Harris campaign has utilized\u200c a coordinated\u200c effort on platforms like\u200b Reddit \u200bto <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/schiff-calls-for-big-tech-censorship-in-2024-election-42\/\" title=\"Schiff Calls for Big Tech Censorship in 2024 Election\">disseminate misleading information<\/a> and censor \u2064criticism. Allegations include the systematic downgrading of negative community\u2064 notes\u2063 on Harris&#8217; campaign, suggesting \u200borganized efforts to manipulate public perception. Musk&#8217;s commitment\u2064 to the investigation indicates \u200da potential escalation in scrutiny over <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">election-related social\u200d media\u2062 practices<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JQebIC76jpw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Farzad \/ YouTube <\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/30\/elon-musk-announces-investigation-into-harris-campaign-artificially-inflating-online-support\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Elon%20Musk%20Announces%20Investigation%20Into%20Harris%20Campaign%20Artificially%20Inflating%20Online%20Support&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/30\/elon-musk-announces-investigation-into-harris-campaign-artificially-inflating-online-support\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Elon%20Musk%20Announces%20Investigation%20Into%20Harris%20Campaign%20Artificially%20Inflating%20Online%20Support&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/30\/elon-musk-announces-investigation-into-harris-campaign-artificially-inflating-online-support\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/30\/elon-musk-announces-investigation-into-harris-campaign-artificially-inflating-online-support\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Elon%20Musk%20Announces%20Investigation%20Into%20Harris%20Campaign%20Artificially%20Inflating%20Online%20Support&amp;body=Elon%20Musk%20announced%20his%20team%20is%20investigating%20Vice%20President%20Kamala%20Harris'%20manipulation%20of%20social%20media%20to%20inflate%20her%20online%20support.%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/30\/elon-musk-announces-investigation-into-harris-campaign-artificially-inflating-online-support\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>X owner Elon Musk <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1851657604025753713\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> that his team is investigating Vice President Kamala Harris&rsquo; manipulation of social media to artificially inflate her online support.<\/p>\n<p>The billionaire entrepreneur announced the probe after The Federalist published two parts of a three-part investigative series about the Democrats leveraging a cadre of dedicated followers to &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-trump-meme-maker-ricky-vaughn-indicted-for-using-twitter-to-spread-election-disinformation-to-hillary-clinton-voters-faces-10-years-in-prison\/\" title=\"Pro-Trump Meme Maker \u201cRicky Vaughn\u201d Indicted For Using Twitter to \u2018Spread Election Disinformation\u2019 to Hillary Clinton Voters \u2013 Faces 10 Years in Prison\">spread election disinformation<\/a>, and skirt election laws&rdquo; with online forums, including X. (Read part one <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/29\/busted-the-inside-story-of-how-the-kamala-harris-campaign-manipulates-reddit-and-breaks-the-rules-to-control-the-platform\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a> and part two <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/30\/block-community-notes-we-dont-like-harris-campaign-caught-red-handed-manipulating-x-to-censor-criticism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.) <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-807396b56cd8ec793a31c34b589e7ddb fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-807396b56cd8ec793a31c34b589e7ddb\"><\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;We are investigating this,&rdquo; Musk wrote on X a few weeks after <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/07\/elon-musk-this-will-be-the-last-election-if-harris-wins\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">warning<\/a> voters at a Pennsylvania rally this fall that if Harris wins, &ldquo;this will be the last election.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"Z4DXp8bAUhoja2w3d17xTuqgHVHM8e6lPNgLDTjvL9KMCEmBkY2cuxdJweInhypKI3b5z916NzQiWWlFaGBEJ0P\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We are investigating this <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JR7gikRDxY\">https:\/\/t.co\/JR7gikRDxY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1851657604025753713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>According to the anonymous internet watchdog <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/reddit_lies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Reddit Lies<\/a>, writing in The Federalist, the Harris campaign is engaged in a practice known as &ldquo;astroturfing,&rdquo; wherein massive swaths of coordinated messages generate an illusion of support far broader than actually exists.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no different than a shady company paying a team to write a bunch of fake Amazon reviews about their product to make it appear to be a better and more popular product than it is,&rdquo; the watchdog reported this week. &ldquo;On Amazon, that might result in a product getting more sales. In a U.S. election, it could mean that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-harris-campaign-manipulates-reddit-to-control-the-platform\/\" title=\"The Harris Campaign Manipulates Reddit To Control The Platform\">falsely advertised candidate receives<\/a> more votes. This behavior is not only incredibly dishonest, but in many cases, it directly violates the Terms of Service they&rsquo;ve agreed to by operating on certain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-new-acting-attorney-general-jeff-rosen-recently-wrote-an-essay-on-foreign-influence-in-us-elections-this-tells-us-a-little-about-his-knowledge-of-whats-going-on-today\/\" title=\"The New Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen Recently Wrote an Essay on Foreign Influence in US Elections \u2013 This Tells Us A Little About His Knowledge of What\u2019s Going On Today\">social media platforms<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>On Reddit, the <a href=\"https:\/\/explodingtopics.com\/blog\/most-visited-websites\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sixth<\/a>-most popular website in the world, &ldquo;126 of the top 1,000 posts in the past month on r\/Politics were posted by official Harris-Walz campaign volunteers.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-344254cab1c1aeadd1c227bb1e0c26ef fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-344254cab1c1aeadd1c227bb1e0c26ef\"><\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;Owning one out of every eight of all top posts in r\/Politics is not an easy feat, and it doesn&rsquo;t just <em>happen<\/em>,&rdquo; wrote Reddit Lies, explaining how the Harris campaign made it happen as part of a coordinated effort of volunteers deliberately working to circumvent platform safety guards against spam. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s safe to say that the Harris-Walz astroturfing operation has fundamentally compromised the authenticity of political discussions on Reddit.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Reddit Lies outlined in part <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/30\/block-community-notes-we-dont-like-harris-campaign-caught-red-handed-manipulating-x-to-censor-criticism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two<\/a> of the investigation for The Federalist how Harris supporters are also systematically downgrading community notes that make her campaign look bad. Despite reform measures implemented at X under Musk, &ldquo;virtually none of the false and misleading tweets from Kamala Harris&rsquo; campaign have Community Notes appended to them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;One likely explanation for this discrepancy is that the Harris campaign is directing volunteers on its Discord server to vote down Community Notes even when those notes accurately say the campaign is being deceptive,&rdquo; Reddit Lies reported. &ldquo;In the &lsquo;twitter-community-notes&rsquo; channel found on the Harris-Walz Discord, paid Democrat staffers are also writing dubious Community Notes on X to undermine GOP and Trump messaging. They then encourage volunteers to rate them positively.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d7bffb26b60d56a3892675c057c95207 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d7bffb26b60d56a3892675c057c95207\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com. Sign up for Tristan&#8217;s email newsletter <a href=\"https:\/\/socialjusticeredux.substack.com\/about\">here<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Tristan Justice<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JusticeTristan\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\" rel=\"noopener\">@JusticeTristan<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/tristanjustice\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/2024-election\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">2024 election<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/censorship\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">censorship<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/elon-musk\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Elon Musk<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/kamala-harris\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Kamala Harris<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/social-media\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">social media<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/tech\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">tech<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/twitter\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Twitter<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/x\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">X<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elon Musk is investigating Kamala Harris&#8217; alleged social media manipulation to boost her online support<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":2361825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Elon-Musk-2.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32192,4021,3976,44049,32364],"class_list":["post-2361824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-elon-musk","tag-harris","tag-investigation","tag-online-support","tag-social-media"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Elon-Musk-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2361824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2361825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2361824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2361824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2361824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}