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Freedom251 › Blog › Elon Musk

Elon Musk Reshared a Plagiarized Article Bylined by a “Fake” Writer, Futurism Reports

By Freedom251 Team · · 3 min read

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Futurism reported that Elon Musk reshared a Medium post on Aug. 24, 2024, that copied an Evie Magazine article and carried the byline “Mark Higley,” a name the outlet said was supported by a stock-photo profile and no visible publishing or social-media history. The post also misrepresented a Morgan Stanley forecast: the original estimate concerned U.S. women ages 25–44 who would be single by 2030, not women who would be both single and childless.

What Musk reportedly shared

According to Maggie Harrison Dupré’s Aug. 26, 2024, report for Futurism, Musk reshared a screenshot from a Medium article posted by the account “Wall Street Silver.” The screenshot showed the headline “45% of Women Estimated to be Single and Childless by 2030.” Futurism said Musk added the caption, “This is extremely concerning!!”

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The original X post could not be opened directly during verification because the link returned a 403 error. The post details therefore come from Futurism’s contemporaneous account, not an independent inspection of Musk’s post. Futurism reported that it had been viewed more than 70 million times at the time of its publication; that is a dated platform figure, not a current view count.

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What Futurism found about the “Mark Higley” byline

A profile with little traceable history

Futurism reported that the Medium article appeared in January 2024 under the name “Mark Higley.” The outlet said the profile had no publishing history beyond Medium and no identifiable social-media footprint.

The profile image

The report said a reverse-image search matched the profile headshot to a stock photograph hosted on Pexels. Futurism also described finding many Savanna Post bylines with similar characteristics. Those observations are evidence reported by one outlet; they do not, by themselves, establish a person’s legal identity or prove who operated the account.

How the article was traced to another publication

Futurism traced the Medium post to an article originally published by Evie Magazine and reported that the Savanna Post version reproduced that article word-for-word. The headline and subtext combined “single” with “childless,” changing the scope of the statistic that the article cited.

That distinction matters because copying text can preserve an original source’s wording while a new headline or framing changes what readers think the underlying evidence says.

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What Morgan Stanley’s 45% forecast actually said

Morgan Stanley’s “Rise of the SHEconomy” summary, dated Sept. 23, 2019, says that Census Bureau historical data and Morgan Stanley forecasts pointed to 45% of U.S. prime-working-age women ages 25–44 being single by 2030. The same summary gives 41% as the share in 2018.

Claim or context What the original source says
Population U.S. women ages 25–44, described as prime-working-age
Projected 2030 figure 45% expected to be single
2018 comparison 41% single
Marital and family status The forecast addresses being single; it does not say 45% would be both single and childless
Date Morgan Stanley summary dated Sept. 23, 2019; it was not a new 2024 estimate

Both figures are a forecast and a historical comparison as presented in the 2019 summary, not a current observed rate. Morgan Stanley connected the projected change to women becoming a larger share of the labor force and discussed possible effects on wages and consumer spending. Those are economic interpretations, not arguments that women should marry or have children.

Why “single and childless” is an inaccurate expansion

Being single and being childless are separate characteristics. A forecast about the share of women who are not married cannot be converted into a forecast that the same share have no children without additional data. The repost’s wording therefore broadened both the population and the condition being measured.

Rank #4
Journalism Ethics Goes to the Movies
  • Used Book in Good Condition
Dimension Reposted framing Morgan Stanley’s stated scope
Relationship status Single and childless Single
Population Women generally U.S. women ages 25–44
Timing Presented as a recent figure 2019 forecast for 2030, compared with 2018
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The mental-health claim needs narrower context

Futurism said the Evie article cited a 2017 descriptive study of 200 women in Western Algeria when discussing unmarried women’s mental health. In Futurism’s summary, the researchers associated higher depression and stress and lower self-confidence with pressure to marry and stigma experienced by unmarried Arabic women, rather than identifying single status itself as the cause.

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That account should not be generalized to all women or countries. Futurism also reported that a second linked Evie opinion piece offered no data or research for its claim about promiscuity and mental health.

What is established—and what is not

  • Futurism reported the Aug. 24, 2024, reshare, its caption and the article’s copying trail.
  • Futurism reported the evidence behind the “Mark Higley” profile, including the stock-photo match and lack of other visible activity.
  • Morgan Stanley’s 2019 page directly establishes the 45% forecast’s population, timing and focus on being single.
  • No source used here establishes Musk’s intent or shows that he knew the article was copied or misleading.

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Elon Muskfact-checkingfuturismMorgan StanleyPlagiarismSocial Media

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