Starlink didn’t reply to a request for remark.
This conspiracy principle has continued to unfold, and it is not restricted to X: Dialogue threads on Reddit, posts on Instagram and Threads, and dozens of Fb posts all push the narrative that Musk colluded with Trump to make use of his Starlink satellites to steal the election.
One of the energetic platforms for these conspiracy theories is TikTok. WIRED has reviewed dozens of movies posted on the platform by customers both repeating the declare about Musk and Starlink or including new twists to the conspiracy principle.
X, Meta, Reddit, and TikTok didn’t reply to requests for remark.
One of the standard new elements of the idea pertains to the truth that Starlink satellites have been noticed burning up over the US final weekend, which these pushing the conspiracy principle declare is proof of Musk trying to cowl his tracks. The actuality is that Starlink satellites are designed to deplete on reentry on the finish of their lifespan.
The conspiracy principle has eerily related elements to the so-called Italygate conspiracy pushed by the Trump marketing campaign after the 2020 election, which advised an Italian army satellite tv for pc was used to flip votes from Trump to President Joe Biden.
“It is regarding to see it solidifying and crystallizing into particular narratives, after which to see stuff being added on—that is what we noticed final time as nicely,” says Thomas. “You see this form of collective storytelling that occurs inside these communities the place the people who find themselves attempting to realize clout on-line by selling a brand new model of a conspiracy principle, all of them have so as to add their little bits to it in order that they will get their engagement.”
Different conspiracy theorists claimed Trump spoke about “a little bit secret” he made onstage that he had with Musk, referencing a remark he made throughout his Madison Sq. Backyard rally final month. In truth, the remark was directed at Home speaker Mike Johnson. Some left-leaning accounts have additionally pointed to podcaster Joe Rogan’s feedback this week that Musk had developed a bespoke app to offer him early entry to election outcomes.
“Apparently Elon created an app and he knew who received the election 4 hours earlier than the outcomes,” Rogan stated. “In order the outcomes are coming in, 4 hours earlier than they referred to as it, Dana White advised me Elon stated, ‘I’m leaving. It’s over. Donald received.’” It’s unclear how this app labored or what knowledge it used.
Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company that oversees the US elections, stated in a November 6 assertion that there was “no proof of any malicious exercise that had a cloth impression on the safety or integrity of our election infrastructure.”
Whereas some right-wing figures are persevering with to push election conspiracy theories, the overwhelming majority have fallen silent within the wake of Trump’s win, abandoning in a single day 4 years price of nonstop posting and shouting about election fraud.
And whereas the left-wing election conspiracies are nowhere close to the dimensions that the Cease the Steal motion was simply weeks in the past, some consultants are nonetheless involved.
“I’ve seen some comparisons to Cease the Steal and a few of these different right-wing conspiracy election theories, and it’s smaller than these, as they have been on the finish of the Trump presidency,” says Thomas. “However I feel the numerous distinction there’s that they got here after months, if not years, of deliberate agitation and cultivation by a wide range of actors. So, for me, to see these left-wing election fraud conspiracy theories getting fairly important traction rapidly, I feel, personally, is kind of regarding.”
