Starlink did not respond to a request for comment.
This conspiracy theory continues to spread, and it's not limited to X: Discussion threads on Reddit, posts on Instagram and threads, and dozens of Facebook posts all push the narrative that Musk colluded with Trump to steal the election. Used its Starlink satellites for.
One of the most active platforms for these conspiracy theories is TikTok. WIRED has reviewed dozens of videos posted on the platform by users who are either repeating claims about Musk and Starlink or adding new twists to the conspiracy theory.
X, Meta, Reddit and TikTok did not respond to requests for comment.
One of the most popular new aspects of the theory concerns the fact that the Starlink satellites were Last weekend America was seen burning, Those pushing the conspiracy theory claim this is evidence of Musk attempting to cover his tracks. reality This is because Starlink satellites are designed to burn up on re-entry at the end of their lifetime.
The conspiracy theory has similar aspects to the so-called Italygate conspiracy. Pushed by the Trump campaign Following the 2020 election, which suggested that an Italian military satellite was used to switch votes from Trump to President Joe Biden.
“It's worrisome to see it solidify and crystallize into specific narratives and then see things being added to it – that's what we saw last time,” says Thomas. “You see this kind of collective story that happens within these communities where people who are trying to gain influence online by promoting a new version of a conspiracy theory all have to add their little parts to it so that they can make their Can get participation.”
Other conspiracy theorists claimed Trump talked about “a little secret” he made on stage with Musk, referencing a comment he made during the Madison Square Garden rally last month. Actually, the comment was Directed at House Speaker Mike JohnsonSome left-leaning accounts have also pointed to the podcaster Joe Rogan's comments this week Musk had developed a special app to provide quick access to election results.
“Apparently Elon created an app and they knew who won the election four hours before the results,” Rogan said. “So as the results were coming in, four hours before they were called, Dana White told me that Elon said, 'I'm leaving. It's over. Donald won.'” It's not clear that this How the app works or what data it uses.
Jane Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which oversees US elections, said statement of 6 november That “there was no evidence of any malicious activity that had any material impact on the security or integrity of our election infrastructure.”
While some right-wing figures have been pushing election conspiracy theories, the vast majority have gone silent in the wake of Trump's victory, giving up four years of consistent posting and screaming overnight about election fraud.
And while left-wing election conspiracies are nowhere near the scale that the Stop the Steal movement was a few weeks ago, some experts are still worried.
“I've seen comparisons to Stop the Steal and some other right-wing conspiracy election theories, and it's smaller than they were at the end of the Trump presidency,” Thomas says. “But I think the key difference is that they come after months, if not years, of deliberate agitation and cultivation by various actors. So, for me, seeing these leftist election fraud conspiracy theories becoming increasingly popular in significant ways is, I think, personally, quite worrying.