X’s Community Notes Fail to Curb US Election Misinformation, Study Finds
SAN FRANCISCO – A new report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) reveals that X’s Community Notes, a crowdsourced fact-checking program, is failing to effectively combat the surge of US election misinformation on Elon Musk’s social media platform. The study, published on Wednesday, analyzed a sample of 283 misleading posts about the US elections and found that accurate Community Notes correcting false claims were not displayed on a staggering 74% of them. This raises serious concerns about the platform’s ability to address the spread of election-related disinformation, particularly as the 2024 US presidential election draws closer.
The CCDH’s findings highlight several key issues with the Community Notes system. Many misleading posts, including those promoting false narratives about the 2020 election being stolen and questioning the reliability of voting systems, lacked any accompanying Community Notes. Even when notes were present, they often failed to gain significant visibility. The study found that original misleading posts received 13 times more views than the corrective notes, suggesting that the misinformation is reaching a far wider audience than the fact-checks intended to debunk it. This discrepancy in visibility undermines the effectiveness of Community Notes as a tool for combating misinformation.
Community Notes, previously known as Birdwatch under Twitter’s former leadership, allows X users to contribute fact-checks to posts. These contributions are then reviewed by other users based on criteria such as accuracy, sourcing, clarity, and neutrality. The program, rebranded as Community Notes after Musk’s acquisition of the platform in 2022, has been touted as a way to leverage collective intelligence to combat misinformation. However, the CCDH report indicates that the system is struggling to keep pace with the volume of false and misleading content on the platform.
Keith Coleman, X’s Vice President of Product overseeing Community Notes, defended the program, emphasizing its high standards for accuracy and trust. He pointed to the thousands of election-related notes generated in 2024, claiming that hundreds of notes have been displayed on thousands of posts, reaching tens of millions of views in the last month alone. Coleman attributed the effectiveness of the notes to their quality. X also cited external academic research supporting the program’s trustworthiness and efficacy. However, these claims appear to contradict the CCDH’s findings, which suggest that the system is not adequately addressing the widespread prevalence of election misinformation.
Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH, countered X’s assertions, arguing that their research demonstrates the inadequacy of Community Notes in stemming the tide of disinformation. He characterized the program as a mere "Band-Aid" on a much larger problem, emphasizing the damaging impact of misinformation on democratic processes and social cohesion. Ahmed’s statement underscores the urgent need for more robust and effective solutions to address the proliferation of election-related misinformation on X. The CCDH’s report casts a shadow over the effectiveness of Community Notes and raises crucial questions about X’s commitment to combatting disinformation.
The ongoing tension between X and CCDH is further complicated by a previous lawsuit filed by X against the nonprofit. X blamed CCDH for a significant loss in advertising revenue, alleging that the group’s reports on increasing hate speech on the platform had deterred advertisers. However, the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge in March, clearing the way for CCDH to continue its research and advocacy work. The latest report on Community Notes and election misinformation is likely to further strain the relationship between the two organizations. The findings of the report underscore the need for greater transparency and accountability from social media platforms in addressing the spread of misinformation, particularly in the context of elections.