Starlink did not respond to a request for comment.
This conspiracy theory has continued to spread, and it’s not limited to X: threads on Reddit, posts on Instagram and Threads, and dozens of posts on Facebook push the narrative that Musk colluded with Trump to use his satellites Starlink to steal the elections.
One of the most active platforms for these conspiracy theories is TikTok. WIRED has reviewed dozens of videos posted on the platform by users that repeat the claim about Musk and Starlink or add new twists to the conspiracy theory.
X, Meta, Reddit and TikTok did not respond to requests for comment.
One of the most popular new aspects of the theory relates to the fact that the Starlink satellites were observed burning in the US last weekend, What those pushing the conspiracy theory claim is evidence that Musk is trying to cover his tracks. He reality is that Starlink satellites are designed to burn up upon re-entry at the end of their useful life.
The conspiracy theory has eerily similar aspects to the so-called Italygate conspiracy promoted by the Trump campaign after the 2020 election, which suggested an Italian military satellite was used to switch votes from Trump to President Joe Biden.
“It’s worrying to see it solidify and crystallize into specific narratives, and then see things being added – this is what we saw last time as well,” Thomas says. “You see this kind of collective storytelling that happens within these communities where people who are trying to gain influence online by promoting a new version of a conspiracy theory, they all have to add their bits to it in order to achieve their commitment. .”
Other conspiracy theorists claimed that Trump talked about “a little secret” he made on stage and had with Musk, referencing a comment he made during his Madison Square Garden rally last month. In fact, the comment was addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson. Some left-wing accounts have also pointed out the podcaster Joe Rogan’s comments this week that Musk had developed a custom-made app to give him early access to the election results.
“Elon apparently created an app and knew who had won the election four hours before the results,” Rogan said. “When the results came back, four hours before they called him, Dana White told me that Elon said, ‘I’m leaving.’ It’s over. Donald won.’” It is not clear how this app worked or what data it used.
Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that oversees US elections, said in a statement from November 6 that there was “no evidence of any malicious activity that had a material impact on the security or integrity of our election infrastructure.”
While some right-wing figures continue to push election conspiracy theories, the vast majority have remained silent in the wake of Trump’s victory, abandoning four years of nonstop posts and shouts about voter fraud overnight.
And while left-wing election conspiracies are nowhere near the scale of the Stop the Steal movement just a few weeks ago, some experts are still concerned.
“I’ve seen some comparisons to Stop the Steal and some of these other right-wing election conspiracy theories, and it’s smaller than those, as they were at the end of the Trump presidency,” Thomas says. “But I think the significant difference is that they came after months, if not years, of deliberate agitation and cultivation by a variety of actors. “So for me to see these left-wing voter fraud conspiracy theories getting pretty significant traction quickly, I think, personally, it’s pretty concerning.”