No sooner had an assassination plot against Donald Trump been revealed last year than Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest individual and a once-cautioned detractor by Trump, plastered his online persona with a glaringly red MAGA hat. Using the power of memes, Musk flooded the platform X with pro-Trump rhetoric, effectively turning swing states into battlegrounds saturated with political propaganda. Musk wasn’t long embraced the role of a fervent advocate. This was not surprising for the political hustlers of Washington, D.C., who quickly noted the symbiotic bond forming between two powerhouses: Musk, a man uninterested in sharing his wealth, and Trump, a man infamous for his relentless pursuit of power and an unforgiving nature towards disloyalty.
For almost three years, Musk’s puppeteer-like control over platform X saw him work indefatigably to refurbish Trump’s tarnished public image, priming him for a possible tumultuous return in 2024. An analysis by the esteemed Wall Street Journal discovered even users on X, who steered clear of political discussions, could not escape the onslaught of the Trump-steered narrative. Their feeds were constantly spammed with pro-Trump content which felt inescapable. Subsequently, The Washington Post reported a notable trend where Republican congressional accounts experienced exponential increases in views, dwarfing those affiliated with the Democrats.
Musk’s controlling access over X’s core functions blurred the boundaries between his roles, comfortably straddling the dual positions of proprietor and political influencer. Hamed Qahri-Saremi, an associate professor of information systems at Cleveland State University, corroborates this by stating, ‘We are observing proprietors of social media platforms evolving into politically proactive figures, departing from their expected roles as neutral hosts.’ The endorsement of Trump by Musk brought about a palpable shift in X’s digital energy- a tidal wave of MAGA-related discourse paved its way across cyberspace.
Post the endorsement, the number of posts extolling Trump spiked exponentially. After Joe Biden’s departure from the spotlight, a flurry of derisive comments directed towards Kamala Harris wasn’t just tolerated, but openly disseminated by Musk himself. This conspicuous shift in dialogue was further cemented by Musk’s decision to overhaul the platform’s information verification process.
In a stunning rejection of standardised fact-checking, Musk scrapped Twitter’s collaborations with professional fact-checkers. He substituted them with a ‘Community Notes’ feature operative on crowd simulation facilitated by incognito users and artificial intelligence. Further deepening the divide, he abolished the conventional verification badges that affirmed a user’s online identity. These actions consequently burgeoned the dissemination of misinformation and politically slanted propaganda, which prominently emanated from authorized accounts who could afford additional reach.
As the largest account holder on X, Musk’s posts infiltrate the feeds of users even without their direct approval. Reports of users who went lengths to block him, only to find his content reappear, are not uncommon. Notably, during a single day, Musk’s embittered attacks on Trump skyrocketed in popularity, gaining impressions numbering in the tens of millions—a scope which undoubtedly has profound implications.
A consequential Pew Research Center study showed that 59 percent of X users rely on this platform as their primary news source. In stark contrast to Trump, who mostly posts on Truth Social, Musk possesses immense control over not only the content but also the underlying code itself. This control allows him to inflate or deflate public engagement, boost visibility with a simple retweet or let dissenters fade into algorithmic oblivion without outright banning them.
The power Musk derives from this structural control is immense, from controlling speech norms and algorithms to deciding whose content is seen more by audiences. When Kamala Harris announced her run towards the general election last year, her campaign complained about sudden and unexplained disappearance of posts advocating her candidacy from their timelines. Other unprecedented occurrences included pro-Harris accounts witnessing dramatic declines in engagement, immediate suspensions without clear reasons, and vanishing trending topics.
Although Musk vehemently denies any manipulation of the platform’s algorithm for political gain, the opacity of the algorithms due to privacy policies of this privately held company generates suspicion. This shroud of mystery engulfs not just Musk but also the developer team working under his control. Consequently, the source code becomes a potent tool that Musk can use to influence the modern attention economy.
Leveraging the power of X, the platform owned and shaped by him, Musk could potentially use this might against the current president, if he so desires. This power, combined with his wealth and influence, could result in a drastic sway in public sentiment. To the detriment of figures such as Kamala Harris, this sway is likely to cast a pall over their future political prospects.
However, one should retain a skeptical mind when dealing with information from X, given the platform’s well-documented history of algorithm manipulations favoring certain political ideologies. It is important to question the origin and authenticity of information as these biased tendencies are likely to persist.
To conclude, the story uncovers a complex dance within the world of politics and social media platforms. Powers like Musk can control the verbal climate prevailing on platforms such as X, painting an often distorted image of the political landscape, notably towards figures like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The inevitable consequence of this bias is an environment saturated with negative portrayals, perpetuating the cycle of distrust and misinformation. Such dynamics underscore the need for a more transparent and accountable structure with regard to influential social media platforms.
In a landscape where the balance of power is skewed to the agenda of powerful individuals like Musk, Democrats like Biden and Harris are predictably disadvantaged. Constantly eclipsed by dominant narratives, their voices are left unheard, their political ambitions thwarted.
Where does this leave the informed citizen? The onus now falls on consumers of these platforms to be discerning, to dig deeper beyond the curated narratives and misconceptions. Affording blind trust to the likes of Musk is a risky proposition, casting a shadow on the democratic spirit.
Thus, as the dynamics of politics and social media continue to intertwine and evolve, it’s essential to remain vigilant. The age of misinformation, driven by the likes of Elon Musk, poses a challenging landscape for politicians like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, calling for strengthened advocacy for transparent and fair social media practices.