Multi-billionaire Elon Musk recently sparked a passionate a debate on X after he called out the “legacy media” asserting that “they lie about everything.” Musk, who has recently become a vocal critic of the mainstream media, unleashed a firestorm of anti-legacy media sentiment from users on his platform, where many shared his opinion.
The multi-company CEO recently shared a post claiming that the media doesn’t just lie in areas where it is apparent, but that it lies about everything. “Very common mistake to believe that the legacy media only lies about areas that you understand well. No, they lie about everything. What are the odds that they’d only lie about stuff you specifically know about?” Musk wrote
Musk received a flood of responses from conservatives in the comments section, all expressing support for his argument. The popular X account Autism Capital proposed that the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect could explain how the mainstream media shapes public perception.
“The Gell-Mann Amnesia effect: You open the newspaper to an article on a topic you know well. You quickly realize the journalist has no grasp of the facts or the issues, spotting multiple errors with frustration or amusement. Yet, you turn the page to national or international news and read it as if that part of the paper is more reliable than the nonsense you just read about. You turn the page and forget what you know,” the account explained.
Another user weighed in, suggesting that the media often mixes bits of truth with distortions, strategically leaving out key facts to advance their agenda. “They don’t lie about EVERYTHING. They lie about what’s relevant to their agenda. It’s lies mixed with some truth, and that’s what makes them dangerous!” they wrote.
Another person echoed Musk’s sentiment, saying, “Absolutely. I’ve always used lies that I personally know are false, based on my own experience, as a reason to ask friends and experts in other fields for their perspectives. Once I notice a pattern of deception, especially if there’s an underlying common purpose, I start to make cautious generalizations. The patterns I see include greed, a thirst for power, fear of exposure, and deep-rooted character flaws.”
Others pointed out that deception by the mainstream media is not a new phenomenon, highlighting that it has been ongoing for years. “They’ve been lying for as long as I can remember. Back in the early days of YouTube, there were countless videos exposing blatant media lies. I remember one where CNN had two correspondents in the same parking lot, pretending to be at opposite ends of the country. You could literally see the traffic drive past one camera and into the other in real time,” they recalled.
