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In the midst, of the 2024 U.S. presidential elections, there have been circulating rumors  that Vice President Kamala Harris might shut down X (previously Twitter) if elected. The  widely shared accusations on social media originate from misinterpreted remarks made  during an interview in 2019. Harris talked about not shutting down the platform but  rather suspending Donald Trump’s account. The comment has been misrepresented,  according to fact-checkers, which feed false information online. 

Screen Shot of a tweet from @PoliticsViedeoChannel that  

circulated X during the election.

➢ Claim: Kamla Harris would shut down “X” if she won the elections. 

The post that was circulating X had pictures of both Elon Musk and Kamala Harris from  different events that they attended. In other words, the pictures had no relation to what  the caption was saying.  

Elon musk at Paris Tech Conference  in 2023. 

Kamla Harris during presidential  

campaign in 2024. 

Further investigations were carried to find the original video of Kamla Harris claim by  using fact-checking tools like Yandex, TinEye and Boolean Operators (advanced google  search). The widely circulated allegations proved that they are a misrepresentation of  Harris’ 2019 remarks in which she demanded that former President Donald Trump’s  Twitter account be shut down for using offensive language. She never advocated for the  platform to be shut down. Voters are confused because of the out-of-context statement being misrepresented and spread on social media. 

Screen Shot from Reuters in October of 2019  

from the democratic primary debate.

Misinformation frequently spreads more quickly than the truth in the hyperconnected  world of today. Harris’ 2019 comments focused on holding people responsible for  breaking platform rules rather than shutting down entire services like X. Experts stress  that material should always be verified before being shared online, especially during  election seasons when political narratives are easily manipulated. 

Sources 

• https://yandex.com/images/search?cbir_id=2239571%2FpMx 

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• https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/harris-did-not-say-she-wanted-shut down-x-2019-interview-2024-09-10/ 

• https://tineye.com/search/b318d0ce501951691af8d47d07890624c021cc91?s ort=score&order=desc&page=547 

• https://youtu.be/7qZl_5xHoBw?si=eT-83Fc0iUnV8N2o 

• https://www.wionews.com/world/elon-musk-claims-harris-will-shut-down x-if-she-becomes-next-president-773650 

• https://thefederalist.com/2024/11/05/elon-musk-predicts-kamala-harris will-shut-down-x-if-elected 

president/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHKx0ZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXI_ABUUVONY Fy5zUY0_Twz5XNNLOz_LkRN7wz– 

By Mariam Amr