Post claiming Elon Musk banned LGBTQ Pride on X is false | Fact check
The claim: Elon Musk is 'blocking Pride on X'
A Jan. 17 Facebook post (direct link, archived link) claims X owner Elon Musk will no longer allow certain content on his platform.
“Elon Musk Shocks the World by Blocking Pride on X Forever: ‘Children Must Come First,’” reads text in the post, which includes a link to an article making the same claim in the comments.
The post was shared more than 1,000 times in 10 days, and similar claims circulated on Threads and Instagram.
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Our rating: False
Musk didn’t ban X users from posting about LGBTQ Pride. The post cites an article that appears to be generated by artificial intelligence that provides no evidence to support its claims.
Musk post announcing ban doesn't exist
The post was published amid a shifting social media landscape. Ten days earlier, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced his plans to discontinue the company's third-party fact-checking program. TikTok users were also bracing for a potential app shutdown, which ended up lasting less than 24 hours.
At the same time, Musk was poised to assume his role as administrator of President Donald Trump's newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
But there is no evidence Musk announced any policy to ban LGBTQ pride posts on X. There are no statements about such a policy on Musk's X account, nor are there any credible news reports about such a move.
Numerous posts containing LGBTQ Pride messages can be found on X, including ones shared after the Facebook post about the supposed ban.
The article linked in the post's comments claims Musk announced the policy on X, but no such announcement exists. The article does not link to the purported X post from Musk and does not provide any evidence to support its claims.
The article appears to be AI-generated. Copyleaks, Hive Moderation and GPTZero AI detectors concluded the text was 95% to 100% likely to have been AI-generated.
The post also used language resembling false claims that circulated about Musk in September 2024 and early January. Paste BN previously debunked claims that Musk banned Disney's LGBTQ Pride content and that he called for a ban on Pride flags in schools.
Fact check: No proof of State Department message telling TikTok users to delete the app
Musk and Trump have been outspoken about gender and sexuality. During his inaugural address, Trump announced the government would officially recognize “only two genders," while Musk has claimed his estranged transgender daughter was "killed" by the "woke mind virus.”
Paste BN reached out to X and the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources
- Elon Musk, accessed Jan. 21, X account
- Copyleaks, accessed Jan. 22, AI detector
- Hive Moderation, accessed Jan. 22, AI detector
- GPTZero, accessed Jan. 22, AI detector
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