Some social media users claim to have found an explanation for Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 election loss. They say billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink technology manipulated votes to benefit President-elect Donald Trump.
Starlink is an internet provider that uses satellites to provide connectivity; it’s a subsidiary of Musk’s commercial spaceflight company SpaceX.
“Musk’s Starlink uploaded votes in swing states,” one Nov. 10 Threads post said. “Swing state voters went Dem downballot but Trump at the top? Unlikely. Starlink satellites exploding, destroying evidence.”
Starlink made headlines in recent weeks when the company distributed equipment to help people regain internet access in hurricane-hit areas. To some, that move was further proof of the conspiracy.
“The Russians have access to Starlink terminals and therefore the satellites. The Russians are known hackers,” said another Nov. 10 Threads post. “Elon Musk and the US gov. sent Starlink terminals to Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia due to the hurricanes.”
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Other Threads users summarized the unsubstantiated claims: “People are saying Elon Musk used Starlink to steal the U.S. Election for Donald Trump.”
(Screenshots from Threads)
These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
Election security experts and state and local election officials rebutted the claims, saying the 2024 presidential election was secure and there’s no evidence of Starlink-related fraud.
“Starlink is suspected by conspiracy theorists not because of what it does, but because Elon Musk owns it,” said Mike Rothschild, a journalist, author and conspiracy theory expert.
This conspiracy theory circulated on Threads amid a larger wave of election denial claims from liberals that mimic Republicans’ false claims about 2020 election fraud.
“Conspiracy theories about lost elections being stolen are a natural way to cope with an unexpected outcome,” Rothschild said, adding that it’s important to “leave conspiracism behind and embrace reality.”
Election infrastruc …
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