How Elon Musk is turning social network X into a political tool

After Elon Musk acquired Twitter, the platform quickly became his personal political tool, as well as a breeding ground for hate speech and misinformation.

Not everyone is following this chaos as closely as I am, so I decided to write a summary of all the changes that have occurred on X and beyond, as of January 2025.

These changes have radically changed how the platform works and who has a “voice” on it.

Ilon's team has changed the algorithm several times. One such change occurred in November 2022, when the platform severely limited the visibility of pro-Ukrainian accounts. This change was noticed and reported by many users.

Under the previous owner, violations of the terms of use led to permanent blocking. But since Elon promised a “free speech” platform, he is now minimizing the visibility of accounts he doesn't like.

Recently, there has been a heated debate about visa workers (mostly Indians) coming to the US. Elon has been a passionate defender of the visa program, which many have seen as contradictory to the America First ideology popular among MAGA supporters.

Many users and groups criticized the program and Musk himself. Elon responded by removing their verification, which resulted in a loss of advertising revenue and a significant decrease in the visibility of these accounts.

Recently, Musk has been interfering in European politics, supporting Reform UK — a right-wing, pro-Kremlin populist party led by Nigel Farage. He has also defended Tony Robinson, a hooligan and criminal who spread false information.

When Farage refused to support Robinson, Musk called for a change in leadership at Reform UK. Elon also gave Reform UK a grey badge, which is usually reserved for government agencies, while ignoring the fact that he gave this badge to the main British parties such as Labour and the Conservatives.

Reform UK is not the only pro-Kremlin party in Europe that Musk supports. He has recently started promoting the AfD, a far-right German party with close ties to the Kremlin and Russian intelligence.

At the same time, Musk has bowed to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, India, and most recently Brazil. In fact, Musk's platform X has complied with more government requests to remove content than Twitter ever did.

Musk recently announced that an algorithm update will be coming in the near future, and the platform will prioritize “positive” and “informative” content. The purpose of this change is likely to silence any criticism of Musk and the Trump administration, instead feeding users memes, artificial intelligence, and gossip.

Of course, this does not apply to Elon or his allies, as their vast network and the constant visibility of Musk’s posts always give their messages priority and push on the platform.

It is clear that X is no longer a level playing field. It is run by a power-hungry oligarch who prioritizes the interests of a small group of allies and political figures who support his worldview.

To protect “free speech,” Musk changed the terms of service so that X users could only file lawsuits against the platform in a federal district in North Texas.

In hindsight, it is clear that Musk’s purchase of X was not a business move, but a media grab. While X may continue to suffer losses, Musk's businesses will benefit from tax breaks and deals under the Trump administration.

When authoritarian governments are formed, one of the first steps is to seize control of the media. Now, with Zuckerberg also removing restrictions, we will see the rise of social media, reminiscent of the “Wild West”, where almost anything is allowed. This is extremely profitable for Trump.

Musk's capture of X — This is not about “free speech,” but about controlling the flow of information and serving the interests of a small, extremely wealthy elite group.

As some of the users banned by Musk said: “Compared to television, they don't just own the airwaves — they control it, influencing the content more than the TV stations. It's dictatorial power.”