Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

This is the technology we’re loving right now

NASA moon capsule suffered extensive damage during 2022 test flight

Microsoft is changing how you log in to your accounts

The dangerous new call for regime change in Beijing

Ukrainian men abroad voice anger over pressure to return home to fight 

U.K. local election results could spell doom for Conservative Party

The New York Times, alone in its outrage over access to Biden

Wait, what is Stephen A. Smith talking about? Find out with our quiz.

Stephen A. Smith would like even more of your attention

Is Pastis as good as our food critic thought? He sent spies to find out.

Trevor Williams’s escape act helps Nationals blank Rangers 

Nationals can’t solve Nate Eovaldi, drop series finale to Rangers

Teen grabs wheel when driver passes out and school bus veers into traffic

Cat climbed into Amazon return box, found alive 630 miles away

I learned to heal my sadness by cradling dying chickens 

Hope Hicks witnessed nearly every Trump scandal. Now she must testify.

Elections 2024 latest news: Biden to honor distinguished Americans; Trump back in N.Y. court

To the Gaza protesters helping to elect Trump: Give it a rest

An I bond is now at 4.28 percent. Are they still a good deal?

Use these 6 points to say no to a college you and your kid can’t afford

How this new rule protects retirement savers from costly advice

On Press Freedom Day, little to celebrate for Hong Kong’s journalists

Young Georgians want to be part of Europe. Their government is in the way.

Taxes are inevitable. Paying to prepare them doesn’t have to be.

Miss Manners: Host eats luxurious breakfast, leaves cereal for guest

Ask Amy: Should I be the best man if I think the bride is abusive?

Carolyn Hax: Husband keeps pushing modest spouse to wear sexier clothes

You asked: Do I need a passport for my cruise?

What’s the best bus to New York? We tested 5 for comfort and value.

Adaptive equipment is making national parks more inclusive

Riot police and over 2,000 arrests: A look at 2 weeks of campus protests

Hope on the horizon | The Trump Trials: Sidebar

Police break into UCLA encampment

Big Tech news and how to take control of your data and devices

See more coverage in your recommendations

Technology

Tips delivered to your inbox twice weekly

The Tech Friend newsletter

Business and Tech alerts

Get the weekly Campaign Moment newsletter

Set alerts for major election developments

Election 2024

The Campaign Moment newsletter

Politics alerts

Ammar Awad

As false information about the rapidly changing war between Gaza Strip militants and Israel proliferated on the social media platform X over the weekend, owner Elon Musk personally recommended that users follow accounts notorious for promoting lies.

“For following the war in real-time, @WarMonitors &amp; @sentdefender are good,” Musk posted on the platform formerly called Twitter on Sunday morning to 150 million follower accounts. That post was viewed 11 million times in three hours, drawing thanks from those two accounts, before Musk deleted it.

US President Joe Biden Summit for Democracy

U.S. Secretary of State <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/02/israel-hamas-war-news-gaza-palestine/" target=_blank>Antony Blinken urged Hamas to accept the latest cease-fire and hostage-release agreement </a>proposed by Israel. Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of the militant group’s political bureau, said in a statement that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/02/hamas-touts-positive-spirit-cease-fire-talks-will-travel-cairo/" target=_blank>Hamas views the Egypt-hosted negotiations in a “positive spirit.”</a>

Both were among the most important early spreaders of a false <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/22/pentagon-explosion-ai-image-hoax/" target=_blank>claim </a>in May that there had been an explosion near the White House. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stock index briefly dropped 85 points before that story was debunked.

Emerson T. Brooking, a researcher at the Atlantic Council Digital Forensics Research Lab, posted that @sentdefender is an “absolutely poisonous account. regularly posting wrong and unverifiable things … inserting random editorialization and trying to juice its paid subscriber count.”

The War Monitor account has argued with others over Israel and religion, <a href="https://x.com/WarMonitors/status/1587250122441867264?s=20" target=_blank>posting </a>a year ago that “the overwhelming majority of people in the media and banks are zionists” and <a href="https://x.com/WarMonitors/status/1670547142920765440?s=20" target=_blank>telling </a>a correspondent in June to “go worship a jew lil bro.”

Information researchers said that the new conflict was an early test of how the revamped X conveys accurate data during a major crisis, and that the immediate impression was poor.

“Anecdotal evidence that X is failing this stress test is plentiful,” said Mike Caulfield, a research scientist at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public. “Go on the platform, do a search on Israel or Gaza — you don’t have to scroll very far to find dubious or debunked information.”

Musk left up his replies to the two accounts he had promoted, each of which have more than 600,000 followers, boosting their visibility. He also continued to fault “mainstream media,” telling users to trust X instead.

Other accounts on X drew engagement with photos or videos of unrelated attacks from years earlier and false claims that Iran or others had entered the conflict.

An <a href="https://twitter.com/jerusalam_post" target=_blank>account </a>imitating the Jerusalem Post falsely reported that the Israeli prime minister had been taken to the hospital, collecting more than 700,000 views.

Numerous accounts promoted a faked document saying that the White House had approved $8 billion in aid to Israel. Others posted video of buildings collapsing in Syria in the past and <a href="https://x.com/Shayan86/status/1711094097555910680?s=20" target=_blank>said </a>they were in Gaza.

Spokespeople for X did not return emails seeking comment.

How to avoid falling for misinformation, fake AI images on social media

X and other real-time sources of information are especially subject to rumors, false claims and propaganda during major events.

Researchers have said that X has gotten much less reliable since Musk took control nearly a year ago. He ended the practice of awarding “verified” checks to established media accounts, stopped labeling some accounts as government-affiliated and began sending money to accounts drawing heavy engagement, rewarding views instead of accuracy.

A recent study published by the European Commission <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/01/musk-twitter-x-russia-propaganda/" target=_blank>concluded </a>that Russian propaganda about its war in Ukraine has reached more people on X this year than it did last year.

“People who have paid for blue checks have a financial incentive to LARP [live action role-play] as war reporters by dredging up old stories or fake footage,” Brooking wrote. “Elon Musk enables this.”

Last week, Musk said he would change the way articles are shared by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/05/twitter-x-news-headlines-removed/" target=_blank>removing </a>the headlines and promoting only pictures, which experts said would decrease traffic to news sites.

Musk also has been contributing to a broader legal and political campaign that has succeeded in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/23/online-misinformation-jim-jordan/" target=_blank>quieting </a>some academics and research groups who track misinformation by accusing them of fostering unconstitutional censorship. He has threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League over its reports showing a rise in antisemitic posts on X since Musk bought it last October.

Biden administration officials did not respond immediately to questions about whether it was working with social media companies to identify misinformation. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is among <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/03/cisa-5thcircuit-election-injunction/" target=_blank>the government agencies being targeted by Musk and some Republicans,</a> referred questions to the State Department, which monitors foreign disinformation.

Officials there did not respond to a query. The White House also did not respond to emails.

Top 10 nonfiction books of 2019, Hudson Booksellers

Top 10 nonfiction books of 2010, Hudson Booksellers

Book of the year finalist in 2003, Investigative Reporters & Editors 

Best in Business awards in 2017 and other years, Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing

Gerald Loeb Awards finalist in 2017 and other years

Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World

Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords who are Bringing Down the Internet

All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning's Napster

Harvard College, A.B. in English

Joseph Menn joined The Post in 2022 after two decades covering technology for Reuters, the Financial Times and the Los Angeles Times. His books include "Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World" (2019) and "Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords who are Bringing Down the Internet" (2010). 

Joseph Menn

washpost

Elon Musk told X users to follow accounts known for lies for Israel updates

the-washington-post

Rocket barrages launched towards Israel from Gaza

Reuters

Live updates

Why Iran attacked Israel

Mapping Iranian strikes

Gaza aid

Israeli hostages

Balance of Power Pair

U.S. House Aggregate

U.S. Senate Aggregate

Israel-Gaza War

prism://prism.query/two-sites,/technology,/politics/powerpost/the-technology-202?limit=20

prism://prism.query/site,/technology/tech-policy&limit=20

Tech Policy

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/politics&limit=20

Cut through the 2024 election noise. Get The Campaign Moment newsletter.

Politics

Post Politics from The Washington Post is the source for political news headlines, in-depth politics coverage and political opinion, plus breaking news on the biden administration and White House, Congress, the Supreme Court, elections and more.

prism://prism.query/site,/politics/the-fix&limit=6

prism://prism.query/site,/world/middle-east&limit=20

Middle East

The Washington Post provides the latest information and analysis of breaking Middle East news stories. Includes news coverage on Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Kuwait, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/world/&limit=20

World

The Washington Post World section provides information and analysis of breaking world news stories. In addition to our world news and video, Post World News offers discussions and blogs on major international news and economic issues.