Washington, United States: When Elon Musk amplified a conspiracy theory about the hammer attack on US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, he joined the growing ranks of Americans routinely sharing misinformation published by dubious websites presenting themselves as local news outlets.

The new Twitter owner eventually deleted his tweet linking to the false article by the Santa Monica Observer, but millions had already digested and re-circulated a smear that went viral on Facebook and other social networks.

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