Key things to know about how Elon Musk has boosted hard-right figures in Europe
Rome – Rome (AP) – Elon Musk may have dropped from political grace to Washington, DC, but while he seeks to build a new political party, his power on X – where he commands the most popular story – remains without control.
Musk is a manufacturer of kings on the platform he acquired in 2022 for $ 44 billion. He used his influence to cultivate politicians on the right and insurgent activists across Europe. A Retweet or Musk response can lead to millions of views and tens of thousands of new subscribers, according to an associated analysis of public data.
This fact was not lost for influencers who have persistently tagged Musk, seeking an answer or a retweet. He also fueled concerns in Europe concerning foreign interference – not Russia or China, but from the United States.
“Each alarm sound must sound,” the European Parliament worked on electoral interference and digital regulation told AP.
The Associated Press analyzed more than 20,000 jobs, which were compiled by light data, over a period of three years from a sample of 11 European personalities who had important interactions with musk and frequently promoted a right -wing political or social program.
These case studies are not supposed to be representative of a large universe; Rather, they highlight the ways in which Musk’s commitment can have an impact on local influencers who share his opinions.
Since the acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, Elon Musk subscribers have more than doubled, more than 220 million. No other important account has shown such high or consistent growth.
The result: if Musk’s X account is his megaphone, he has become much larger since he took over – a change that has global implications.
Musk accounts have promoted part of a growing global alliance of nationalist parties and united individuals in common to stop migration, overthrow progressive policies and promote an absolute vision of freedom of expression, which has shaken the foundations of a transatlantic link that guided American and European relations for more than eight decades.
Several of the accounts analyzed belong to people who have faced allegations of illegal behavior in their own country. Tommy Robinson, an anti-immigrant agitator in the United Kingdom, was sentenced in October to 18 months in prison for having violated an order of the court which prevented him from making disseminated allegations against a Syrian refugee. Bjoern Hoecke, a German alternative politician for the Deutschland (AFD) party, was sentenced last year to knowingly used a Nazi slogan in a speech.
The Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was acquitted in December allegations which he illegally owned 100 migrants aboard a humanitarian rescue ship
Among the others examined by AP: Alice Weidel, who helped direct the Germany alternative for the Fête deutschland (AFD) to its best electoral exhibition this year; Eva Vlaardingerbroek, a Dutch influencer known as “Shieldmaiden of the extreme right”; Naomi Seibt, a German activist nicknamed “Anti-Greta Thunberg” now living in what is equivalent to political exile in Washington DC; Ruben Pulido and Foro Madrid, both associated with the Vox populist party in Spain; And Fidias Panayioutou, a Cyprus politician who also pleaded for Musk companies.
These accounts collectively won around 5 million followers from the time when Musk resumed Twitter in October 2022 to January this year. Most triple figure percentages increase in their subscribers – up to 920%, or in a case of a small account exploding during this period, exceeding 6,000%. Even some accounts that grew up more regularly have seen their own disciple that suddenly begins to increase once Musk started interacting with them. Similarly, the days, Musk interacted with a position, the number of views that the account has increased – in most cases, accumulating two to four times more views, with a few that will increase 30 or 40 times their normal daily audience.
More established players on Musk’s orbit – like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose party of the brothers in power of Italy has neo -fascist roots – benefit less when Musk interacts with them on X, discovered AP.
Musk’s domination creates a strong incentive for people to make Musk engage with their content.
Naomi Seibt, a skeptical German skeptic and ping, almost 600 times in the past three years. Musk finally undertook in June 2024, when he asked him to explain why the alternative party for Germany (AFD) is so controversial in Germany.
Since then, Musk replied, cited or marked Seibt more than 50 times, and his supporters have increased by more than 320,000 since Musk took over the platform. On the days, Musk interacted with Seibt, his messages, on average, obtained 2.6 times more views.
“I did not intentionally” invade “Elon algorithm,” said Seibt to AP. “Obviously, Elon has a lot of influence and can help share a message even with those who are generally glued to the inherited media, especially in Germany.”
Alice Weidel, who helps direct the alternative for Germany (AFD), saw her daily rise from 230,000 to 2.2 million on days, Musk interacted with his articles on X. After Musk organized a livestream with Weidel on X, vice-president JD Vance broke the protocol and met it in Munich. Weidel’s party, which fights against legal action to block the German government’s decision to designate it as an extremist group, continued to obtain its best electoral demonstration.
Musk also used X to plead for the head of the hard right of Italy, Matteo Salvini. On the days, Musk interacted with Salvini’s account, the average views were more than four times higher than usual. Now Vice-Prime Minister, Salvini has urged his government to move forward with controversial contracts for Starlink and has rejected European efforts to regulate content on X.
And Musk has a friend in Brussels: Fidias Panayiotou – an influencer of the 25 -year -old social media in Cyprus. Before winning a surprise seat in the European Parliament last year, the Cypriot spent weeks in a quest to kiss Elon Musk. In January 2023, his wish came true. Their embrace has become viral. Since its entry into office, Panayiotou has praised X on the European Parquet prosecution, pushed back regulations which have an impact on the platform and have credited Musk to have triggered his call to draw 80% of the EU bureaucrats.
Musk, obviously, was happy. “Vote for Fidias”, he wrote on X. “He is smart, super high energy and really cares about you!”
Approval has been seen 11.5 million times.
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Kessler reported in Washington
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Contact the Global Investigation Team at Investigation@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/
