Democrat Cooper Warns of ‘Dangerous’ Content on Musk’s X
(Bloomberg) -- Democratic North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said he was worried about disinformation on billionaire Elon Musk’s X social-media platform and warned that failing to address the problem could be “dangerous” to democracy ahead of November’s presidential election.
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“I am more worried about the disinformation that is there on his platform now,” Cooper said Tuesday in a roundtable with Bloomberg News on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, adding there “appear to be very few guardrails.”
Cooper said voters “aren’t thinking that much about this election,” yet, but he worried about the potential for misinformation growing as people prepared to cast ballots.
“I am not sure what we do,” he added. “Potentially some type of congressional legislation at some point on this. We don’t want to violate the First Amendment. At the same time, peddling misinformation can be very dangerous to our democracy.”
A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk, the world’s richest person, has increasingly sought to use his wealth and influence to tip the scales in favor of Republican nominee Donald Trump in his race against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. The billionaire has hosted the former president for a conversation on his X platform and by funding a super political action committee backing his candidacy.
A self-styled free speech absolutist, Musk’s control of X — formerly Twitter — has drawn scrutiny from governments who have sought to crack down on a wave of online disinformation and hate speech.
Earlier: Musk’s Free Speech Mantra Is Clashing With Hate Speech Crackdown
After acquiring Twitter, cutting thousands of employees and renaming the platform X, Musk rolled back its content rules and allowed many banned accounts to return — including Trump’s. Now, X manages misinformation through a program called “community notes,” which relies on members of the public to agree to append a note on a post when its content is false or misleading. But that process can take hours or days, if it happens at all.
The technology entrepreneur previously shared a deepfake of a campaign ad for Harris, downplaying it as a parody. In the UK, officials are weighing tougher rules for X and other sites after a surge in disinformation spurred an outbreak of riots.
Cooper told Bloomberg News that social media can be “very positive, but it can also turn the wrong way if people abuse it, and I worry about that.”
“I’m not trying to stifle it, I’m trying to force owners to be more responsible about the content,” he added.
Key Battleground
Harris’ entry into the race after President Joe Biden’s exit has given Democrats a newly competitive electoral map, putting into play swing states, such as Cooper’s North Carolina, that Democrats had largely written off.
“I have that 2008 feeling,” Cooper said, referencing the last year in which the Democratic nominee — then Barack Obama — carried the state, and said Harris’ momentum would help energize Democrats in down-ballot races.
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Cooper, 67, who has a track record of winning over GOP-leaning voters, was a contender to be Harris’ running mate, before she eventually settled on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Harris senior campaign adviser David Plouffe, who ran Obama’s 2008 campaign, called North Carolina “winnable,” and predicted a victory for Democrats in the race to replace term-limited Cooper for governor. That contest is pitting Democratic state attorney general Josh Stein against Republican lieutenant governor Mark Robinson, a Trump-backed candidate who has drawn scrutiny over controversial remarks.
“There’s a bunch of people who, right now, are voting Democrat for governor, aren’t yet Democrat for president, so we need to run a campaign for them,” Plouffe said Tuesday at an event hosted by Axios, calling voters turned off by Robinson a “huge opportunity.”
Polls have shown a tightening presidential race in North Carolina. Trump led Harris in the state 48%-46% in late July, according to a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll. In April, Trump led Biden by 10 percentage points in the state, according to the poll.
Musk’s pro-Trump super PAC is hiring canvassers in the state, a sign that the former president’s allies are worried that his support is slipping in one of the most Republican-friendly battleground states.
Earlier: Musk’s Pro-Trump PAC Hires Help in GOP-Friendly North Carolina
Economic Focus
Selling voters on her ability to steward the economy will be crucial to Harris’ efforts in the state, where inflation and soaring housing costs have hit household budgets.
Lower costs for Americans is a centerpiece of Harris’ economic agenda, which she started to roll out last week, seeking to reverse poor voter perceptions on the Biden administration’s handling of the economy. The Democratic nominee’s plans call for down-payment assistance to aid first-time home buyers, expanded tax credits and programs to curb price growth for rent and food.
Cooper said he expected Harris to keep focus on those issues.
“I think she will definitely put out more detail as she goes along,” he said of her economic agenda.“What she is laying out are broad strokes of ideas of how we can shift the dynamic to make sure that we’re paying attention to the working class.”
--With assistance from Riley Griffin, Josh Wingrove, Nancy Cook and Sarah Frier.
(Adds more detail in fifth, eighth paragraphs.)
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