International News: On Sunday, Elon Musk backed his social media platform X's fact-check system after US President Donald Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro expressed anger over X's Community Notes on his anti-India posts.
Without directly naming Navarro, Musk said that the Community Notes feature on X checks all posts and does not exempt anyone. He wrote, "On this platform, people set the narrative. Every argument and viewpoint is heard from all sides. Community Notes corrects everyone, without exception. Notes, data, and code are public. Grok provides additional fact-checking."
Navarro's opposition to India
Peter Navarro constantly criticized India's oil imports from Russia during the Ukraine war. He made allegations like India being a "laundromat for the Kremlin" and "Brahmins benefiting from Russian oil." He argued that India was supporting the war efforts by buying oil from Russia. But this time, for the first time, X challenged Navarro’s allegations with the correct facts via Community Notes.
Facts in the Community Notes
The note pointed out that India's oil import policies are primarily for energy security and not just to make profits. It also clarified that while India has imposed some tariffs, the US still maintains a trade surplus in services with India and imports some goods from Russia itself. Thus, Navarro's criticism proved to be hypocritical.
Navarro's response
Navarro called the community note "nonsense" and accused Elon Musk of "inserting propaganda into people's posts." He again claimed that India bought oil from Russia only after the Ukraine invasion and the aim was only to make profits. He wrote, "This note is just nonsense. India buys Russian oil only to make profits. It was not bought before the war. The Indian government's spin machine is on. Stop killing Ukrainians. Stop costing American jobs."
The controversy made it clear that fact-checking and transparency on social media platforms are now at the center of major controversies. Navarro's criticism and Musk's response show how challenging it has become to maintain a balance between global politics and digital platforms.
