Influencers on
Since the tumultuous takeover of the former Twitter by Elon Musk in 2022, the platform has reactivated thousands of accounts that had been suspended and introduced a paid verification system which fuels conspiracy theories, analysts explain.
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Some users share offensive content or false information in order to increase interactions with their content and thus earn money via an advertising revenue program reserved for certified accounts.
“Today, polemicists deliberately incite hatred to get clicks and gain visibility, and by extension, more money
,” explains analyst Imran Ahmed, director of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
An “upside down” social network
The network has experienced a deluge of false information on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, encouraged by personalities like the American Jackson Hinkle, pro-Palestinian and very influential on video showed Iranian bombings on American military bases in Iraq.
Using a reverse image search, AFP demonstrated that it was in fact an attack in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Jackson Hinkle also claimed that Yemen had declared
“war on Israel”
in support of the Palestinian people.
While Yemeni Houthi rebels have targeted Israel-linked targets in the Red Sea, neither they nor Yemen's government have formally declared war on Israel.
In addition to raising thousands of dollars via crowdfunding platforms, Jackson Hinkle also offers
“premium content”
to his subscribers on X at three dollars per month.
Contacted by AFP, Jackson Hinkle - whose publications regularly reach millions of views - refused to comment on his income generated on X, preferring to criticize the media coverage of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
According to figures from the CCDH, Jackson Hinkle earns at least $3,000 per month thanks to his subscribers.
Last August, he said he had earned around $1,700 from advertising revenue from his publications.
According to analyst Imran Ahmed, Elon Musk has created a
“topsy-turvy”
network where official sources
“struggle to be heard”
and
“those who lie and stir up hatred are put on a pedestal”
.
The platform did not respond to AFP's requests for comment.
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Poor content moderation
To be eligible to be part of X's ad revenue program, users must pay eight dollars per month for a premium account and have at least 500 subscribers.
In 2023, Elon Musk announced that publications accompanied by a note - which must be created by a user - contextualizing questionable or erroneous messages could not generate income.
With this decision, the billionaire indicated that he wanted to favor
“accuracy”
rather than
“sensationalism”
.
But Jack Brewster, who works for the platform against disinformation NewsGuard, told AFP that viral posts with disinformation are often not corrected by X.
In October, NewsGuard analyzed 250 posts on the social network that contained disinformation about the war between Israel and Hamas.
Only a third of these messages contained a moderation note.
NewsGuard later identified ads from 86 companies - including major brands and nonprofits - linked to disinformation around Israel and Hamas, including an ad for the US Federal Police (FBI) published under a video by Jackson Hinkle which had generated millions of views.
The post was not subject to any moderation, according to NewsGuard.
“These notes do not adapt to all contexts
,” explains Jacob Shapiro, researcher at Princeton University in the United States, who participated in an advisory group for the moderation program of X before its acquisition by Elon Musk .
Relying on the
“sole voluntary work”
of these notes to prevent the monetization of misleading publications circulating on the platform is
“unrealistic”
, he concluded.