On November 10, 2024, an election conspiracy theory alleging Donald Trump supporter Elon Musk's internet company Starlink hacked the 2024 election in favor of Trump erupted online. A post with over a million views read:
“Raise your hand if you think Elon Musk’s Starlink was the “Little Secret” to win or steal this election. Share this everywhere.”
Social media users began to share a TikTok video by the account @etheria77, who, among other things, alleged: "California and other swing states were able to use Starlink in order to tally up and to count voting ballots in their state."
The post has been viewed over a million times on Social media platform X. Shortly after, an X account, GOP Jesus, with over 17K followers, shared an alleged image of a post by Donald Trump, seemingly from his Truth Social account. In the post, Trump allegedly admitted the election was rigged. The post read:
“I’m being told I didn’t win the election- ELECTIONS RESULTS IN DISPUTE IN KEY STATES. MASSIVE irregularities found. Courts are getting involved. ELON RIGGED IT TOO! This is total WITCH HUNT and ELECTION INTERFERENCE at the highest levels. More to come!!”
Despite the post depicting Trump’s penchant for screaming out his thoughts with all caps and the president-elect’s affinity for buzz words such as “witch hunt” and “Election interference,” he did not share this post. The right corner of the post clearly states “satire,” suggesting it was a fake post circulated as a joke.
There is no post on Trump’s social media account that says he didn’t win the election. However, social media users, who failed to spot the word "satire” in the post, began sharing it to support their theory of Starlink’s interference in the 2024 election.
Starlink was not used in the 2024 elections
A conspiracy theory suggesting Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet company rigged the 2024 election in favor of President Trump is gaining steam on the internet.
On Sunday, the word “Starlink” began to trend on X, as hundreds of thousands of posts alleged election interference. A post by social media user, Gen X, viewed over 2 million times, alleged:
“In June 2024, Trump started telling his supporters he didn't need votes - he had more votes than he needed.” The post
added, “Every single State needs a full investigation and recount, including Starlink activity.”
Another social media account, An Act 4 Progress, shared a Joe Rogan podcast video to support the assertion Musk rigged the election using Musk's internet company. The post read:
“Leon had Starlink over North Carolina in minutes after Milton AND Joe Rogan is now bragging about Musky knowing on election night 4 hrs b4 before the election was called. When crooked attorneys got access to the software in 2020 for “legal discovery” in GA & multiple swing states… It’s now evident what his “secret” was & why he “didn’t need any votes.”
In the video, Joe Rogan clearly states Musk created an app that statistically informed who would win the election four hours before the official results were out. Rogan did not mention Musk's internet company. However, the claim began making rounds on the internet, prompting the billionaire's internet company to trend.
Conspiracy theorists alleged Musk's internet company was connected to the voting machine supply chain, altering the results of the elections.
However, the claims are false. Musk's internet company was not used to rig the election in favor of Trump. Starlink was also not connected to voting machines.
Associated Press reported last month that voting machines are not connected to the internet before or after people have cast their ballots. Machines are generally not connected to the internet while also counting the ballots.
However, there are some jurisdictions in a few states that permit tabulators to transmit unofficial results using a mobile private network. However, this is allowed only after the voting ends on Election Day and the memory cards containing the vote tallies are removed.
Trending
Furthermore, the U.S. government has banned internet voting since it's deemed a security risk. The only way to vote is to use paper ballots. However, while the voting machines are not connected to the internet, preserving the integrity of the election, there are a few exceptions to this rule.
According to NPR, more than 30 states allow some form of internet voting in case of absentee ballots. This privilege is only proffered to military and overseas voters who can't be physically present in the country to vote. A few states also make this concession for voters with disabilities. The absentee ballots are cast using mail service, email or fax. In 2020, a little over 300,000 people voted using email, fax or online portal. However, the rest of the population cast paper ballots at a polling station.
Reply
