X’s Community Notes system left 93.1% of false claims about the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections without a flag, according to NewsGuard, raising questions about crowdsourced moderation ahead of the vote.
NewsGuard identified dozens of X posts spreading false claims about the election, including allegations of fraud. It found notes on 13 posts. The watchdog said posts without notes had drawn millions of interactions before the election.
NewsGuard also cited a post by a conservative commentator falsely claiming that New York and California prohibited voters from presenting identification or election officials from asking to see it. The report did not say that post was among the 13 with notes; it said neither state has such a rule. NewsGuard said Elon Musk had shared at least four false midterm claims, none of which had a note. Musk had 241.5 million X followers at the time of the report and has promoted the system as a way to correct posts by any user, including himself.
X introduced Community Notes in late 2022, allowing users to add context or corrections to posts. Researchers have cautioned that the approach may work best when there is broad agreement on a topic, and that partisan beliefs can lead users to target political opponents. Studies cited in the report have found the system can also help counter some falsehoods, including vaccine misinformation.
The approach is being tested beyond X. Meta ended its U.S. third-party fact-checking program in 2025 and began testing its own Community Notes feature in 16 Spanish-speaking Latin American countries in September. Meta has not announced when the feature will become official. The company’s Oversight Board has said Community Notes is not an adequate replacement for fact-checking.
The U.S. midterm elections are scheduled for Nov. 3.
