X users getting richer by sharing misleading content on US elections

London: A number of users on X are filling in their pockets with payments from the social media handle by posting and sharing content that includes fake and misleading news items on the upcoming US election.

These X users, who also engage in sharing AI-generated images and unfounded conspiracy theories, claim they are being paid "thousands of dollars" by the social media site, a BBC report said.

The prestigious news outlet identified networks of dozens of accounts that re-share each other's content multiple times a day - including a mix of true, unfounded, false and faked material - to boost their reach, and therefore, revenue on the site.

Several say earnings from their own and other accounts range from a couple of hundred to thousands of dollars.

While some of these networks back Republican candidate Donald Trump, others root for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, while a few others claim they are independent.

Several of these profiles claim to have been contacted by US politicians, including Congressional candidates, looking for supportive posts.

On October 9, X altered its rules allowing for payments to be made to eligible accounts with a significant reach based on the amount of engagement from premium users - likes, shares and comments - rather than the number of ads under their posts.

Among the “misleading posts” shared by some of these networks of profiles were claims about election fraud which had been refuted by authorities, and extreme, unfounded allegations of paedophilia and sexual abuse against the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Some misleading and false posts that originated on X have also spilled on to other social media sites with a bigger audience, such as Facebook and TikTok.

In one instance, an X user with a miiniscule following says he created a doctored image purporting to show Kamala Harris working at McDonald's as a young woman. Other users then pushed evidence-free claims that the Democratic Party was manipulating images of its candidate.

Unfounded conspiracy theories from X about the July assassination attempt on Donald Trump were also picked up on other social media sites.

The BBC report said X did not respond to questions about whether the site is incentivising users to post like this, nor to requests to interview owner Elon Musk.