“As always, please try stay as close to the truth as possible, even for stuff you don’t like,” Mr Musk wrote on X. “This platform aspires to maximize signal/noise of the human collective.”

Critics have been hammering Mr Musk for the proliferation of fake news on the site, arguing his attempts to loosen the reins on its content moderation have allowed bad actors and dubious sources to flourish.

“This site is a cesspool of disinformation,” former Obama administration official and podcaster Tommy Vietor wrote on X in response to Mr Musk’s plea. “You have made it exponentially worse, and just this morning you recommended an account known to spread lies and antisemitism. Other than that, great job.”

“This site is worse than useless during a breaking news story,” Aaron Kleinman, of the States Project political advocacy group, wrote recently in response to a thread collecting false information about the war in Israel and Gaza. “Actively harmful. Don’t log in if you want to be informed.”

In the edited footage, the Ukrainian president supposedly encouraged his citizens to "lay down arms" and surrender.

Experts told Euronews that the deepfake was the "first used in an intentional and broadly deceptive way" and marked a shift in misinformation around the Ukraine war.

Soon afterwards, a similarly edited video of Vladimir Putin also appeared online, where the Russian President supposedly told soldiers to "go home while you're alive".