CNN's official communications Twitter account called out billionaire Elon Musk after he tweeted a fake CNN headline about "free speech."
Musk was swiftly fact-checked after he shared a screencap of a CNN "headline" declaring that he "could threaten free speech on Twitter by literally allowing people to speak freely."
You can see Musk's tweet below.
\u201chttps://t.co/KZ7jeME3AX\u201d— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1669630162
But the headline doesn't exist.
Twitter's new owner was the subject of a fact-check by his own website, which flagged Musk's tweet and noted that it "originated from a satirical website."
Twitter linked to an Associated Press fact-check, adding that the chyron visible in the screencap "has been digitally altered to add the text."
You can see Twitter's fact-check below.
@elonmusk/Twitter
Shortly afterward, Musk was called out by CNN's official communications Twitter account, which implored him to "Be better."
\u201c@elonmusk This headline never appeared on CNN. Be better.\u201d— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1669630162
However, the undeterred and unrepentant Musk did the exact opposite, replying to CNN with "Lmaoooo," the slang text term for laughing.
\u201c@CNNPR Lmaoooo\u201d— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1669630162
Musk has been harshly criticized for his response.
\u201cI can\u2019t believe I actually looked up to this guy. Never meet your heroes (or follow them on Twitter), I guess.\u201d— j (@j) 1669681531
\u201cThe person people thought was a genius turned out to be a troll desperate for attention. #DesperateOfTheDay\u201d— Chief Twit (@Chief Twit) 1669687825
\u201c@elonmusk's rules apply to everyone else but himself. When he's caught spreading false info, he laughs it off.\u201d— Thomas T. Thai (@Thomas T. Thai) 1669743483
\u201cDoes this mean accounts with check can call themselves Elon Musk again? Or is humor still only legal when you feel like it?\u201d— Neon Duck (@Neon Duck) 1669697772
\u201cMusk: Why are advertisers leaving?\n\nAlso Musk:\u201d— jorge (@jorge) 1669660375
\u201cYou got caught spreading fake news and you're laughing? You should #BANNED yourself from #twitter .\n#Fakenews\u201d— DD ZAGOD (@DD ZAGOD) 1669666154
\u201cJust so we're all clear here: The man who promises he's gonna make Twitter better just created fake news, distributed fake news and \u2014 when called out by the actual news agency \u2014 laughed in their face.\u201d— Richard (@Richard) 1669670184
Twitter has had to contend with one crisis after another since Musk took ownership of the company, and much of that controversy has revolved around the $8 monthly cost of Musk's newly announced and recently delayed blue checkmark verification subscription, which effectively allows anyone to create a verified account and impersonate whoever they wish.
Musk has repeatedly insisted that Twitter needs to go private if it wants to become a platform for free speech, though he has already come under fire for silencing his critics and spreading misinformation.
This is the second time in the last week that Musk has had to be fact-checked by his own website.
Earlier, Musk was fact-checked after he attributed a quote by late psychologist Carl Jung to Frank Herbert's science-fiction novel Dune.
Twitter flagged Musk's tweet and pointed out that the quote was actually by Jung, and that Musk had gotten it slightly wrong, mistakenly writing "a function of" rather than "a sign of."