Starlink did not respond to a request for comment.
This conspiracy theory has continued to spread, and it’s not limited to X: Discussion threads on Reddit, posts on Instagram and Threads, and dozens of Facebook posts all push the narrative that Musk colluded with Trump to use his Starlink satellites to steal the election.
One of the most active platforms for these conspiracy theories is TikTok. WIRED has reviewed dozens of videos posted on the platform by users either repeating the claim about Musk and Starlink or adding new twists to the conspiracy theory.
X, Meta, Reddit, and TikTok did not respond to requests for comment.
One of the most popular new aspects of the theory relates to the fact that Starlink satellites were observed burning up over the US last weekend, which those pushing the conspiracy theory claim is evidence of Musk attempting to cover his tracks. The reality is that Starlink satellites are designed to burn up on reentry at the end of their lifespan.
The conspiracy theory has eerily similar aspects to the so-called Italygate conspiracy pushed by the Trump campaign after the 2020 election, which suggested an Italian military satellite was used to flip votes from Trump to President Joe Biden.
“It’s concerning to see it solidifying and crystallizing into specific narratives, and then to see stuff being added on—this is what we saw last time as well,” says Thomas. “You see this sort of collective storytelling that happens within these communities where the people who are trying to gain clout online by promoting a new version of a conspiracy theory, they all have to add their little bits to it so that they can get their engagement.”
Other conspiracy theorists claimed Trump spoke about “a little secret” he made onstage that he had with Musk, referencing a comment he made during his Madison Square Garden rally last month. In fact, the comment was directed at House speaker Mike Johnson. Some left-leaning accounts have also pointed to podcaster Joe Rogan’s comments this week that Musk had developed a bespoke app to give him early access to election results.
“Apparently Elon created an app and he knew who won the election four hours before the results,” Rogan said. “So as the results are coming in, four hours before they called it, Dana White told me Elon said, ‘I’m leaving. It’s over. Donald won.’” It’s unclear how this app worked or what data it used.
Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that oversees the US elections, said in a November 6 statement that there was “no evidence of any malicious activity that had a material impact on the security or integrity of our election infrastructure.”
While some right-wing figures are continuing to push election conspiracy theories, the vast majority have fallen silent in the wake of Trump’s win, abandoning overnight four years worth of nonstop posting and shouting about election fraud.
And while the left-wing election conspiracies are nowhere near the scale that the Stop the Steal movement was just weeks ago, some experts are still concerned.
“I’ve seen some comparisons to Stop the Steal and some of these other right-wing conspiracy election theories, and it is smaller than those, as they were at the end of the Trump presidency,” says Thomas. “But I think the significant difference there is that they came after months, if not years, of deliberate agitation and cultivation by a variety of actors. So, for me, to see these left-wing election fraud conspiracy theories getting pretty significant traction quickly, I think, personally, is quite concerning.”
