Issue 40

 

Another Example of Bias
Against Elon Musk

Let's talk "fact checking". There are some well-known fact-checking organizations, and to be a good fact-checker, you need to have 100% accurate info (because that's a requirement for a fact). At the top of the list is Snopes. But their fact-checking has been called into question in the past. They have been accused of being biased possibly due to influence from certain entities (and probably for the sake of money).

Well, Snopes is at it again. Like a lot of media who take every opportunity to bash Elon Musk (because Musk's companies disrupt the status quo and end up reducing other very powerful established entities' profits), Snopes followed suit and got something wrong regarding SpaceX, the Musk company that sends rockets to the International Space Station and created Starlink, an alternative Internet provider.

Many homes and businesses now have Starlink as their Internet Service Provider, and many cruise ships and commercial aircraft now have Starlink onboard for their passengers, and they can have Internet access because Starlink uses 4000 satellites in orbit around the Earth, and they offer better connectivity than Dish Network or other satellite-based providers.

One company, OceanGate Expeditions, also uses Starlink. Why? Because they send out a ship to the location of the sunken Titanic and launch a submersible with up to four paying passengers aboard so they can view the Titanic up close. And the surface vessel uses Starlink to communicate with their home office on dry land.

But when the surface vessel lost contact with their submarine, and the submarine was reported lost with a frantic search for the vessel underway, Snopes immediately reported...

"Oceangate's submersible that went missing in June of 2023 on a Titanic wreckage exploration relied on Elon's Musk's SpaceX-run Starlink satellites to provide communications during the expedition."

...and as you can see, their "TRUE" icon appeared next to this post, and yet, in reality, it's false, and the post gave the impression that the submersible relied on Starlink for their communication. But the sub communicated with the surface vessel using acoustic signals. Only the surface vessel used Starlink to communicate with their home office. And why would Snopes even word the headline that way? "Was the submersible using satellites from Elon Musk's company?"

And since many supporters of Starlink and Elon Musk are techies, and they know that wifi signals can't travel through water, they knew that Starlink was not responsible for the lost communications between the surface vessel and the sub, so the Internet blew up with accusations against Snopes (who has published other inaccuracies about Tesla and Musk and people like Dr Robert Malone). There was so much pushback that Snopes changed their post. But they changed it to...

...and they didn't change the wording of the post, even after being told that it was impossible for Starlink to work underwater! Do you mean to say that Snopes can't fact-check that science-related issue?!! Just Google it!!! Only after threats from SpaceX itself, and some very derogatory Tweets from Elon Musk, did Snopes eventually change their icon to...

 

 

Elon's tweet directed at Snopes...