US Election Day: Elon Musk Faces Lawsuit Over $1-Million-A-Day Giveaway For Allegedly Misleading Voters

The class-action suit seeks over $5 million in damages on behalf of all signatories who claim they were misled by the promotion.

As voters head to the polls in the US presidential election, Tesla CEO and X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk faces a lawsuit claiming fraud in his $1 million-a-day giveaway campaign. Musk, a public supporter of Republican candidate Donald Trump, initiated the giveaway to voters who signed a petition endorsing the Constitution, with a promise of daily cash prizes. However, Arizona resident Jacqueline McAferty has filed a class-action suit in Austin, Texas, alleging the campaign was misleading.

McAferty’s complaint claims that Musk’s organisation, America PAC, falsely assured participants that winners would be randomly selected, though she alleges the outcomes were predetermined. The lawsuit argues that the campaign served to increase traffic to Musk's social media platform, X, and to collect personal information, including names, addresses, and phone numbers, for potential profit through data sales.

McAferty’s legal action follows a recent ruling from a Philadelphia judge who denied a request to halt Musk’s giveaway. This request was made by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who called the campaign an "illegal lottery." Although the judge’s decision was largely symbolic, as Musk reportedly does not intend to continue the cash prizes beyond Election Day, it has spotlighted concerns over the legality and ethics of the campaign.

The class-action suit seeks over $5 million in damages on behalf of all signatories who claim they were misled by the promotion. Musk, a Texas resident, has not publicly responded to the lawsuit, as reported by Reuters.

Google Faces Criticism From Musk Over Search Results

In a separate controversy, Musk has raised concerns regarding Google’s search functionality, suggesting it might favour Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Musk’s post on X pointed out that searching "where can I vote for Harris" on Google returned polling information, possibly due to Harris also being the name of a county in Texas. Conversely, a search for "where to vote for Trump" allegedly led to results mentioning Harris.

Google responded to Musk's query, explaining that its "where to vote" panel can trigger county-related search results, as seen with names like "Harris" or "Vance," which correspond to county names. The company clarified that it is working on a fix and that only a small fraction of users search for voting locations in this way.

This incident has stirred ongoing debates over perceived search engine bias, an issue Trump has previously criticised, asserting that Google’s search results lean toward the Democratic nominee.