Doctored campaign video featuring US vice-president reposted by Tesla chief executive watched 128m times

Doctored campaign video featuring US vice-president reposted by Tesla chief executive watched 128m times

Kamala Harris’s election campaign has accused Elon Musk of spreading “manipulated lies” after the Tesla chief executive posted a doctored video featuring the vice-president on his X account.

Musk reposted a manipulated Harris campaign video on Friday evening in which a fake Harris voiceover says: “I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire,” and that anyone who criticises her is “both sexist and racist”.

The video has been viewed 128m times on Musk’s account after the world’s richest man posted it with the words “this is amazing” followed by a laughing emoji. Musk owns X, which he rebranded from Twitter last year.

Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat senator, accused Musk of violating the platform’s guidelines. According to X’s synthetic and manipulated media policy, users are barred from sharing “synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm” although allowances are made for satire provided it does not “cause significant confusion about the authenticity of the media”.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    662·
    5 months ago

    The Democratic governor of California, Gavin Newsom, posted on X on Sunday evening that the manipulated Harris video should be “illegal” and that he would soon sign a bill banning such media, in apparent reference to a proposal supported by California lawmakers to ban “materially deceptive” election deepfakes.

    I don’t know why they’re still on Twitter

    If everyone except the right-wing trolls leave, then the whole platform dies quickly.

    • FelixCress@lemmy.world
      16·
      5 months ago

      I don’t know why they’re still on Twitter

      Presumably lack of viable mainstream alternative. Looking at Musk management there won’t be a Twitter in a few years though.

      • Sanctus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        22·
        5 months ago

        Well an alternative won’t appear as long as people are still sheltering in the corpse of Twitter. I think Mastadon and Blue Sky together will end up holding that torch.

        • FelixCress@lemmy.world
          8·
          5 months ago

          Well an alternative won’t appear as long as people are still sheltering in the corpse of Twitter

          I am not disagreeing with you - I am not using twitter for ages, even before Musk due to their stance on the genocide of Palestinians. I can however see why the politicians do.