Study: X Community Notes failed on US election falsehoods
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
A study says X's Community Notes failed to flag 93.1% of false US midterm election claims.
The crowdsourced model is spreading to other platforms despite doubts about its reach.
Background
Community Notes is X's crowdsourced verification system, introduced by the platform in late 2022, which lets users add context or corrections to posts. NewsGuard, a US watchdog that rates the credibility of news and information sites, examined posts advancing false claims about the US midterm elections and found only 13 of dozens carried Community Notes. The findings land ahead of the Nov 3 midterm elections, as the same model is increasingly adopted by other tech platforms even though researchers have repeatedly questioned its effectiveness.
How it unfolded
- late 2022X introduces Community Notes, allowing users to add context or corrections to posts.
- Oct 21, 2026A study says X's crowdsourced verification system failed to flag a vast majority of false claims tied to the US midterm elections, including claims promoted by Elon Musk.
- Oct 21, 2026NewsGuard identifies dozens of X posts advancing false election claims, including bogus fraud allegations; only 13 carried Community Notes.
- Oct 22, 2026The Straits Times publishes its report on the study.
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- NewsGuard says Community Notes failed to flag 93.1% of false midterm election claims, and that the uncorrected posts drew millions of interactions ahead of the Nov 3 vote.
- Official
- Musk has often promoted Community Notes as "awesome" and asserted that all users, including himself, were subject to being corrected by the crowdsourced model.
- Caution
- Researchers have repeatedly questioned Community Notes' effectiveness, saying it works best on topics with broad consensus, such as vaccine misinformation.
Still unverified
A conservative commentator claimed in a post that New York and California had made it illegal for voters to show — and officials to ask for — their voter ID; the source states no such rule exists in either state.