Elon Musk's X Is Accelerating Our Descent Into a Post-Truth Nightmare
Elon Musk's X is distorting reality—and it could swing the upcoming election.
If you've ever felt like reality is starting to resemble a poorly written sci-fi novel, you're not alone. Lately, scrolling through social media feels less like catching up on the news and more like navigating a minefield of conspiracy theories and outright fabrications. The platform once known as Twitter—now rebranded as X under Elon Musk's ownership—has become the epicenter of this unsettling shift. Two compelling articles in The Atlantic, Charlie Warzel's "I'm Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is" and Renée DiResta's "Rumors on X Are Becoming the Right’s New Reality", delve into how Musk's X is fast-tracking our plunge into a post-reality society.
Let's start with Warzel's harrowing account of Hurricanes Milton and Helene—natural disasters that devastated communities across the Gulf Coast. As if the storms weren't destructive enough, a torrent of disinformation flooded social media. Alex Jones, never one to miss a chance to peddle nonsense, claimed the hurricanes were "weather weapons" unleashed by the U.S. government. Verified accounts on X shared CGI videos of colossal tornadoes as if they were real, racking up millions of views before anyone bothered to question their authenticity.
"Scrolling through these platforms, watching them fill with false information, harebrained theories, and doctored images—all while panicked residents boarded up their houses... offered a portrait of American discourse almost too bleak to reckon with head-on," Warzel writes.
It's not just about misinformation; it's about a collective willingness to abandon reality in favor of sensationalism. Politicians and influencers exploited these crises for political gain, spreading lies about FEMA's relief efforts and stoking distrust in government institutions. The result? FEMA workers and meteorologists faced harassment and death threats, hampering relief efforts when they were needed most.
DiResta takes us deeper into the rabbit hole, examining how X has become ground zero for right-wing propaganda, fueled by baseless rumors and amplified by political elites—including Elon Musk himself. Imagine scrolling through your feed and coming across claims that FEMA is abandoning Trump supporters, Democrats are manipulating the weather, or Haitian immigrants are eating pet cats in Springfield, Ohio. Sounds absurd, right? Yet these unfounded stories have gained significant traction on X.
"Political influencers, elites, and prominent politicians on the right are embracing even pathologically outlandish claims made by their base," DiResta observes. "They know that amplifying online rumors carries little cost—and offers considerable political gain."
What's truly alarming is how high-profile figures are legitimizing these fringe beliefs. Musk, for instance, has used his platform to spread unverified claims about FEMA, suggesting without evidence that the agency is "actively blocking shipments and seizing goods" intended for hurricane victims. His posts have been viewed tens of millions of times, further muddying the waters between reality and fiction.
This isn't just about a few wild stories circulating online; it's about the systematic dismantling of our shared understanding of truth. Warzel aptly notes that misinformation is too narrow a term to describe what's happening. "What is really happening [is] nothing less than a cultural assault on any person or institution that operates in reality," he writes.
When Assistant Fire Chief Bradley Boone in Pensacola, North Carolina, feels compelled to say, "I ain't got time to chase down every Facebook rumor... We've been through enough," it's clear that the deluge of disinformation has real-world consequences.
DiResta emphasizes that this is a calculated effort to undermine trust in institutions. "In the modern right-wing propaganda landscape, where facts are recast as subjective and any authority outside MAGA is deemed illegitimate, eroding trust in institutions is not an unfortunate side effect—it is the goal," she asserts.
Under Musk's leadership, X has undergone significant changes that have worsened these issues. Musk has long masqueraded as a champion of "free speech," but his actions tell a different story. He's dismantled much of the platform's Trust and Safety team, the people responsible for moderating false and misleading content. Musk's own posts often amplify baseless claims, and he seems to relish his role as a provocateur.
DiResta points out that while Musk may have initially envisioned X as a politically neutral platform, that's far from the current reality. "As Musk has drifted to the right—his profile picture now features him in a MAGA hat—the platform he rebranded as X has become the center of a right-wing political culture built upon a fantastical rumor mill," she writes.
It's like watching the captain of a ship steer directly into an iceberg while insisting he's charting a bold new course.
With just weeks to go before the election, the distortion of reality on platforms like X isn't just a digital problem; it's a societal crisis with far-reaching implications for democracy. Warzel warns that Americans are "divided not just by political beliefs but by whether they believe in a shared reality—or desire one at all."
When a significant portion of the population operates under a completely different set of "facts," reaching consensus or making informed decisions becomes nearly impossible. It's like trying to play a game of chess when half the players insist the pieces are actually checkers—and the board is on fire.
So, what can we do to combat this slide into unreality? Both Warzel and DiResta suggest that addressing this crisis requires a multifaceted approach. It's not enough to debunk falsehoods; we need to rebuild trust in institutions and promote media literacy.
DiResta emphasizes the need for leadership: "Without a concerted push to defend truth—by leaders, institutions, and the public—the rumor mill will continue to churn, and its distortions will become the foundation of an irreparably divided political landscape."
For us as individuals, this means critically evaluating the information we consume and especially that which we share. Support reputable journalism. Hold platforms accountable for the content they amplify.
Elon Musk's Twitter takeover has turned what was once a platform for real-time news and open dialogue into a hotbed of disinformation and propaganda. The success of this reality-twisting machine poses a direct threat to the upcoming election and to the very concept of a shared reality.
In this critical moment, staying anchored to reality isn't just a personal responsibility—it's a collective one. The future of our democracy may very well depend on our ability to navigate this post-truth landscape, challenge falsehoods, and reaffirm our commitment to objective reality.
The stakes couldn't be higher. We're standing on the precipice of potentially irreparable divisions. The time to act is now. Whether through individual action, institutional reform, or collective effort, we must find a way to pull back from the brink and reclaim a shared understanding of the world we all inhabit.
Because at the end of the day, reality isn't just slipping through our fingers—we're letting it go. It's time we tighten our grip.
Maybe an obvious point, but in the short term the most effective thing we could do is to defeat political candidates who make lying part of (or all of) their campaign.
I’m on X and I don’t get the disinformation in my feed because I’ve always been careful who I follow. I don’t reflexively follow those who follow me. I check their posts first.