X Is A Vehicle For Political Propaganda
Two years after Elon Musk completed his controversial $44 billion takeover of Twitter in 2022, the platform has become a hotbed for the 2024 US Presidential election campaign, abounding with fake news, misinformation and disinformation, being made available to its 200 million users.
Musk, who is reported to be one of the world's wealthiest men, bought Twitter, now called X, in a personal capacity. He has since relaxed policies on the moderation of the range and nature of content posted to the platform and and is widely thought to have tilted it in a more politically conservative direction.
In particular, his critics claim the platform has been used to promote politically motivated messages, including conspiracy theories, which are essentially propaganda.
Musk is reported to have had secret talks with Russian President, Vladimir Putin and to have good business relations with with the government of China. He is on record as having contributed millions of dollars to Donald Trump's Presidential election campaign.
In case Trumps is re-elected, Musk is expected to join the Trump administration, possibly at Cabinet level, with direct influence over the conduct of US federal agencies.
The role of extremely wealthy individuals in US politics is hardly new, and Musk is not the only person whose great wealth has enabled them to seek influence over politics, business and foreign policy. Bill Gates, past-CEO and still a major investor in Microsoft (owner of the LinkedIn social media platform) has donated $50million to Kamala Harris' election campaign.
But few are working so publicly for a single candidate as Elon Musk, whose critics claim poses a test to the limits on one unelected person's political power, a consequences of the US Supreme Court's 2010 'Citizens United' decision which eliminated many of the previous legal limits on political donations. The critics also say that X has become a powerful, politically motivated weapon to poison the information environment, by filling it with dangerous, false, and unsubstantiated rumours about election fraud that can reach mass audiences.
The real value of Musk's ownership of X is becoming apparent in the few days remaining before the polls close on November 5th.
A South-African born US citizen, Musk has personally intervened in British politics, posting and then deleting a fake headline that wrongly claimed Prime Minister Keir Starmer was considering sending anti-immigtration rioters to emergency prison camps in the distant Falkland Islands.
The Atlantic | Fortune | Politico | ABC | NPR | LeMonde | Rolling Stone | New York Times
Image: Ideogram
You Might Also Read:
X Blocked In Brazil By Supreme Court Order:
If you like this website and use the comprehensive 7,000-plus service supplier Directory, you can get unrestricted access, including the exclusive in-depth Directors Report series, by signing up for a Premium Subscription.
- Individual £5 per month or £50 per year. Sign Up
- Multi-User, Corporate & Library Accounts Available on Request
- Inquiries: Contact Cyber Security Intelligence
Cyber Security Intelligence: Captured Organised & Accessible
