Since assuming control of the platform, Musk has seen his followers on X double, surpassing even Barack Obama and heading towards the 200 million mark by September
Within less than two years of acquiring the social media site, Elon Musk’s following on X has nearly doubled, giving the billionaire a powerful platform to express often right-leaning views and propagate misinformation.
It only took seven months for Musk to overtake former US president Barack Obama, who had 132 million followers, after purchasing the site – formerly known as Twitter – for $44 billion in October 2022.
– Musk now holds the title of the top personality on X, boasting 194 million followers, followed by
– Barack Obama with 132 Million and
– football star Cristiano Ronaldo with 105 Million.
Also included in the Top Ten are:
In 4th place: Justin Bieber just shy of 100 million
In 5th place: Rihanna with 98 million
In 6th place: Katy Perry with 97 million
In 7th place: The Indian Premier Narendra Modi
Following Modi:
In 8th place: Taylor Swift with 87 million
In 9th place: Donald Trump with 82 million
In 10th place: Ariana Grande with 78 million
“It’s a challenge to reach that level,” noted Marc Owen Jones, a researcher at Northwestern University in Qatar. Musk serves as “a genuine connector across communities and has the ability to make far-right politics mainstream”.
X has come under fire following the UK’s worst riots since 2011, partially attributed to misinformation spread on the platform. Amid reduced moderation and relaxed policies, the platform’s owner has utilized his own account to share baseless claims about the UK’s response to the riots and promote far-right figures inciting violence.
Identified as a “free-speech purist,” Musk has recently shared a wide range of content, from mockery towards UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to a manipulated video of US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Interactions with various far-right accounts, including Tommy Robinson, have provided a significant boost to their content. In the current year alone, fact-checkers have invalidated over 50 of Musk’s posts related to the US election, amassing a total of 1.2 billion views on the platform, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate. Despite this, none of the posts scrutinized by the research organization had garnered a “community note,” Musk’s attempt to address the surge in misinformation following reductions in the platform’s moderation and safety teams.
In July, Musk shared a fake video known as a deepfake featuring a manipulated Kamala Harris campaign advert. The video portrays Harris referring to herself as “the ultimate diversity hire” and has garnered 135.4 million views. Recently, Musk caused controversy by posting and then deleting a fabricated image resembling an article from The Telegraph, alleging that the UK had plans to establish “detainment camps” in the Falkland Islands for rioters in the South Atlantic. Musk’s engagement on X has inadvertently promoted smaller far-right accounts by showcasing their content to his vast following. This exposure has amplified the reach of inflammatory posts from various far-right users, including Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (also known as Robinson), accounts like “Libs of TikTok” and “End Wokeness”, and an anti-Muslim account named “Europe Invasion”. Shares of a post by rightwing commentator Ashley St Clair saw a significant increase after Musk made a provocative reply to it. Despite criticisms, Musk continued to engage with controversial posts, ultimately introducing these contents to a new audience who may not have encountered them otherwise.
According to Jones, a researcher based in Qatar, Musk’s interactions have brought attention to isolated clusters of ‘anti-woke’ accounts, presenting this content to a different audience. By using the hashtag #TwoTierKeir, Musk fueled baseless claims that the UK was showing favoritism towards minorities over white rioters, leading to a surge in its popularity on X. This hashtag was previously used by figures like Robinson and Laurence Fox from the Reclaim party, but had lost its momentum until Musk’s endorsement on August 6. Despite the controversy, neither X nor Musk provided any comments on the matter.
