Some users on X who spend their days sharing content that includes election misinformation, AI-generated images and unfounded conspiracy theories declare they are being paid “thousands of dollars” by the social media site.

The BBC identified networks of dozens of accounts that re-distribute each other’s content multiple times a day – including a mix of factual, unfounded, untrue and faked material – to boost their reach, and therefore, turnover on the site.

Several declare profits from their own and other accounts range from a couple of hundred to thousands of dollars.

They also declare they coordinate sharing each other’s posts on forums and throng chats. “It’s a way of trying to assist each other out,” one user said.

Some of these networks back Donald Trump, others Kamala Harris, and some are independent. Several of these profiles – which declare they are not connected to official campaigns – have been contacted by US politicians, including congressional candidates, looking for supportive posts.

On 9 October, X changed its rules so the payments made to eligible accounts with a significant reach are calculated according to the amount of engagement from additional expense users – likes, shares and comments – rather than the number of ads under their posts.

Many social media sites allow users to make money from their posts or to distribute sponsored content. But they often have rules which allow them to de-monetise or suspend profiles that post misinformation. X does not have guidelines on misinformation in the same way.

While X has a smaller user base than some sites, it has a significant impact on political discourse. It raises questions about whether X is incentivising users to post provocative claims, whether they’re factual or not, at a highly sensitive instant for US politics.

The BBC compared the approximate profits reported by some of these X users with the amount they would be expected to earn, based on their number of views, followers and interactions with other profiles, and found them to be credible.

Among the misleading posts shared by some of these networks of profiles were claims about election fraud which had been rebutted by authorities, and extreme, unfounded allegations of paedophilia and sexual abuse against the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Some misleading and untrue posts that originated on X have also spilled on to other social media sites with a bigger spectators, such as Facebook and TikTok.

In one example, an X user with a tiny following says he created a doctored image purporting to display Kamala Harris working at McDonald’s as a youthful woman. Other users then pushed evidence-free claims that the Democratic event was manipulating images of its candidate.

Unfounded conspiracy theories from X about the July assassination attempt on Donald Trump were also picked up on other social media sites.

X did not respond to questions about whether the site is incentivising users to post like this, nor to requests to interview owner Elon Musk.

liberty Uncut’s content creation lair – where he streams and makes videos – is decorated with fairy lights in the shape of an American flag. He says he is an independent, but would rather Donald Trump becomes president than Kamala Harris.

Free – as his friends call him – says he can spend up to 16 hours a day in his lair posting on X, interacting with the network of dozens of content creators he’s a part of, and sharing AI-generated pictures. He does not distribute his packed name or real identity because he says his household’s personal information has been exposed online, leading to threats.

He is by no means one of the most extreme posters, and has agreed to meet me and explain how these networks on X operate.

He says he has had 11 million views over the history few months since he began posting regularly about the US election. He brings several up on the screen as we gossip at his home in Tampa, Florida.

Some are obviously satire – Donald Trump looking like a character in The Matrix as he brushes aside bullets, or President Joe Biden as a dictator. Other AI images are less fantastical – including an image of someone on the roof of their flooded home as fighter jets pass by, with the comment: “recall that politicians don’t worry about you on November 5th.”

The image echoes Mr Trump’s claim that there were “no helicopters, no rescue” for people in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. The claim has been rebutted by the North Carolina National Guard, which says it rescued hundreds of people in 146 flight missions.

liberty Uncut says he sees his images as “art” that sparks a exchange. He says he is “not trying to fool anybody” but that he can “do so much more by using AI”.

Since his profile was monetised, he says he can make in the “low thousands” monthly from X: “I ponder it’s become a lot easier for people to make money.”

He adds that some users he knows have been making more than five figures and claims he could corroborate this by seeing the reach of their posts: “It’s at that point it really does become a job.”

He says it is the “controversial” stuff that tends to get the most views – and compares this to “sensationalist” traditional media.

While he posts “provocative stuff”, he says it is “usually based in some version of reality”. But he suggests that other profiles he sees are joyful to distribute posts they recognize not to be factual. This, he says, is an straightforward “money-maker”.

liberty Uncut dismisses concerns about untrue claims influencing the election, claiming the government “spreads more misinformation than the rest of the internet combined”.

He also says it is “very ordinary” for local politicians to reach out to accounts like his on X for back. He says some of them have chatted to him about appearing on his live streams and spoken to him about creating and sharing memes, AI images and artwork for them.

Could any of these posts – misleading or not – have a tangible impact this election?

“I ponder that you’re seeing that currently. I ponder that a lot of the Trump back comes from that,” he says.

In liberty Uncut’s view, there is “more depend in independent media” – including accounts sharing AI-generated images and misinformation – than in “some traditional media companies”.

Going head-to-head with the pro-Trump accounts liberty Uncut describes are profiles such as Brown Eyed Susan, who has more than 200,000 followers on X.

She is part of a network of “die-challenging” accounts posting content multiple times every hour in back of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. While she uses her first name, she does not distribute her surname because of threats and abuse she has received online.

Speaking to me from Los Angeles, Susan says she never intended to commence making money from her posts – or for her account’s reach to “explode”. Sometimes she posts and re-shares more than 100 messages a day – and her person posts sometimes reach more than two million users each.

She says she only makes money from her posts because she was awarded a blue tick, which marks paid users on the site and some prominent accounts. “I didn’t inquire for it. I can’t hide it, and I can’t profit it. So I clicked on monetise,” she tells me, estimating she can make a couple of hundred dollars a month.

Aside from posting about policy, some of her most viral posts – racking up more than three million views – have promoted unfounded and untrue conspiracy theories suggesting the July assassination attempt was staged by Donald Trump.

She acknowledges that a member of the throng and the shooter were killed, but says she has genuine questions about Donald Trump’s injury, the safety failings, and whether the incident has been properly investigated.

“There’s no way to get to the truth in this. And if they desire to call it conspiratorial, they can,” she says.

Susan also shares memes, some of which use AI, taking aim at the Republican contender. Several more convincing examples make him look older or unwell. She says these “demonstrate his current state”.

Others display him looking like a dictator. She maintains that all her images are “obvious” fakes.

Like liberty Uncut, she says politicians, including congressional candidates, have contacted her for back, and she says she tries to “spread as much awareness” as she can for them.

Following a row over whether Kamala Harris once worked at McDonald’s, a doctored image of her in the quick food chain’s uniform was shared on Facebook by her supporters and went viral.

When some pro-Trump accounts realised it was an edited photo of a different woman in the uniform, it triggered unfounded accusations that the image came from the Democratic event itself.

An account called “The Infinite Dude” on X appeared to be the first to distribute the image with the caption: “This is fake”. The person behind the image tells me his name is Blake and that he shared it as part of an experiment. His profile does not have nearly as many followers as the other accounts I have been talking to.

When I inquire for evidence that he doctored the image, he told me he has “the original files and creation timestamps”, but he did not distribute those with me as he says proof does not really matter.

“People distribute content not because it’s real, but because they desire it to be real. Both sides do it equally – they just choose different stories to depend,” he says.

His political allegiance remains ambiguous and he says this “isn’t about politics”.

X says online that its priority is to protect and defend the user’s voice. The site adds manipulated media labels to some AI-generated and doctored video, audio and images. It also has a characteristic called throng Notes, which crowdsources truth-checking from users.

During the UK election, X did receive action over a network of accounts sharing faked clips that I investigated. In the US election campaign, however, I have received no response to my questions or requests to interview Elon Musk.

That matters – because social media companies like his could affect what unfolds as voters head to the polls.

Marianna Spring investigated this narrative using her Undercover Voters – five fictional characters based on data from the Pew Research Centre – that allow her to interrogate what some different users are recommended on social media. Their social media accounts are private and do not communication real people.

discover out more about them here – and on the BBC Americast podcast on BBC Sounds.