No Evidence Musk Threatened to Ban X Users Celebrating Hunter Biden’s Pardon

Este artículo estará disponible en español en El Tiempo Latino.

Quick Take

Elon Musk trolled President Joe Biden on X after Hunter Biden’s pardon, sharing a community note mocking the president’s previous post that said, “No one is above the law.” Soon after, a Threads post falsely claimed Musk threatened “anyone glorifying” the pardon “will be suspended from X permanently.” There’s no evidence Musk made such a statement.

Full Story

Billionaire Elon Musk took to his social media platform X on Dec. 2 to mock President Joe Biden following the president’s pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, the day before. Musk resurfaced a six-month-old post by the president proclaiming, “No one is above the law,” highlighting a note that criticized the pardon.

Later that day, a Threads post falsely claimed that Musk had threatened to suspend users celebrating the pardon. The post alleged Musk said, “Anyone glorifying the lawlessness behind Biden pardoning his son will be suspended from X permanently.”

But a review of Musk’s public posts and statements reveals no such quote or policy announcement. Musk’s response to the pardon has been limited to amplifying the “Community Notes” on Biden’s previous post. In addition, we could not find that X has issued any policy updates or enforcement changes related to the pardon. We reached out to X for comment about the claim, but we didn’t receive a response.

Community Notes is X’s crowdsourcing feature that allows users to collaboratively add context to “potentially misleading posts.” Over time, Community Notes can be edited as contributors review and refine them.

A Community Note on the screenshot shared by Musk read: “By pardoning his son Hunter, not merely for a single crime, but for all actual or potential crimes he may or may not have created over an eleven years period, Joe Biden has made clear that some people are, in fact, above the law.” Sharing a screenshot of the post, Musk said, “Community Notes slays.”

Hunter Biden was convicted in June for lying on a federal form about his drug use when purchasing a firearm in 2018, marking the first criminal conviction of a sitting president’s child. On Sept. 5, the president’s son pleaded guilty in federal court to nine tax-related charges, including three felonies and six misdemeanors. Prosecutors said he had engaged in a scheme to evade $1.4 million in taxes from 2016 to 2019 by subverting payroll systems, filing false returns and claiming fraudulent deductions.

Hunter Biden faced a maximum of 25 years in prison for the gun charges and 17 years for the tax offenses, although the New York Times reported that he was likely to receive significantly shorter sentences. Sentencing on the gun-related conviction was scheduled for Dec. 12, while sentencing in the tax case was set for Dec. 16.

The presidential pardon has sparked a heated political debate, with many Democrats criticizing the decision.

While Musk has been vocal about his political views and criticism of public figures, there is no record of him threatening to suspend users over their reactions to the pardon. This is not the first time Musk has been the target of misinformation. His polarizing comments and his support for President-elect Donald Trump have made him a target of false claims online, as we’ve written. In November, Trump announced that Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy would head a project to reduce government waste and fraud.

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Meta to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Meta has no control over our editorial content.

Sources

Brooks, Emily and Mychael Schnell. “Multiple Democrats slam Biden pardon of Hunter.” The Hill. 2 Dec 2024.

Chase, Randall, et al. “President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is convicted of all 3 felonies in federal gun trial.” Associated Press. 11 Jun 2024.

Keefe, Eliza. “Musk’s Starlink Was Not Connected to Vote Tabulation, Contrary to Online Claims.” FactCheck.org. 19 Nov 2024.

“Hunter Biden is first sitting US president’s son to be convicted of crime.” Sky News. 12 Jun 2024.

Thrush, Glenn. “What Happens Next in Hunter Biden’s Criminal Cases.” New York Times. 2 Oct 2024.

Trotta, Daniel and Eric Beech. “Trump names Elon Musk to role leading government efficiency drive.” Reuters. 13 Nov 2024.

U.S. Department of Justice. “Robert Hunter Biden Convicted on Three Felony Tax Offenses and Six Misdemeanor Tax Offenses.” 6 Sep 2024.

White House. “Statement from President Joe Biden.” 1 Dec 2024.

X Help Center. “About Community Notes on X.” Accessed 4 Dec 2024.

X Help Center. “The X Rules.” Accessed 4 Dec 2024.

Zinsner, Hadleigh. “Elon Musk Has Not Blocked Pride-Related Content from X, Contrary to Posts.” FactCheck.org. 22 Nov 2024.