Key things to know about how Elon Musk has boosted hard-right figures in Europe
Musk is a kingmaker on the platform he acquired in 2022 for $44 billion. He has used his influence to cultivate hard-right politicians and insurgent activists across Europe. A retweet or reply from Musk can lead to millions of views and tens of thousands of new followers, according to an Associated Press analysis of public data.
That fact has not been lost on influencers who have tagged Musk persistently, seeking a reply or a retweet. It has also fueled concerns in Europe about foreign meddling -- not from Russia or China, but from the United States.
'Every alarm bell needs to ring,' Christel Schaldemose, a vice president of the European Parliament who works on electoral interference and digital regulation, told AP.
The Associated Press analyzed more than 20,000 posts, which were compiled by Bright Data, over a three-year period from a sample of 11 European figures who had significant interactions with Musk and frequently promote a hard-right political or social agenda.
These case studies are not meant to be representative of a broad universe; rather they showcase the ways in which Musk's engagement can have an impact on local influencers that share his views.
Musk has sweeping power to direct attention on X
Since acquiring Twitter in October 2022, Elon Musk's followers have more than doubled, to over 220 million. No other large account has shown such high or consistent growth.
The result: If Musk's X account is his megaphone, it has gotten a lot bigger since he took over -- a change that has global implications.
The accounts Musk has been promoting are part of a growing global alliance of nationalistic parties and individuals united in common cause to halt migration, overturn progressive policies and promote an absolutist vision of free speech, which has rattled the foundation of a trans-Atlantic bond that guided U.S. and European relations for over eight decades.
Several of the accounts AP analyzed belong to people who have faced allegations of illegal behavior in their own countries. Tommy Robinson, an anti-immigrant agitator in the U.K., was sentenced in October to 18 months in prison for violating a court order blocking him from making libelous allegations against a Syrian refugee. Bjoern Hoecke, a politician from Germany's Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party, was convicted last year of knowingly using a Nazi slogan in a speech.
Italian vice premier Matteo Salvini was acquitted in December of allegations he illegally detained 100 migrants aboard a humanitarian rescue ship
Among the others examined by AP: Alice Weidel, who helped lead Germany's Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party to its best electoral showing this year; Eva Vlaardingerbroek, a Dutch influencer known as the 'shieldmaiden of the far-right'; Naomi Seibt, a German activist dubbed the 'anti-Greta Thunberg' now living in what amounts to political exile in Washington DC; Rubén Pulido and Foro Madrid, both associated with Spain's populist Vox party; and Fidias Panayioutou, a politician from Cyprus who has also advocated for Musk's companies.
These accounts collectively gained roughly 5 million followers from the time Musk took over Twitter in October 2022 through January of this year. Most saw triple-digit percentage increases in their followers -- as high as 920%, or in one case of a tiny account exploding over that time, topping 6,000%. Even some accounts that grew more steadily on their own saw their follower counts sharply begin rising once Musk started interacting with them. Similarly, on days Musk interacted with a post, the number of views the account got soared — in most cases, accruing two to four times as many views, with a few seeing boosts 30 or 40 times their normal daily viewership.
More established players in Musk's orbit -- like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose ruling Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots — benefit less when Musk interacts with them on X, AP found.
Attention seekers know that getting Musk to engage can be transformative
Musk's dominance creates a strong incentive for people to get Musk to engage with their content.
Naomi Seibt, a German climate skeptic, pinged Musk nearly 600 times over the past three years. Musk finally engaged in June 2024, when he asked her to explain why the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is so controversial in Germany.
Since then, Musk has replied to, quoted or tagged Seibt more than 50 times, and her followers have grown by more than 320,000 since Musk took over the platform. On days Musk interacted with Seibt, her posts, on average, got 2.6 times as many views.
'I didn't intentionally 'invade' Elon's algorithm,' Seibt told AP. 'Obviously Elon has a lot of influence and can help share a message even with those who are usually glued to the legacy media, particularly in Germany.'
Musk's online influence has real-world political and financial impact
Alice Weidel, who helps lead the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, saw her daily audience surge from 230,000 to 2.2 million on days Musk interacted with her posts on X. After Musk hosted a livestream with Weidel on X, vice president JD Vance broke protocol and met her in Munich. Weidel's party, which is fighting a lawsuit to block the German government's decision to designate it as an extremist group, went on to secure its best electoral showing ever.
Musk has also used X to advocate for the leader of Italy's hard-right League party, Matteo Salvini. On days Musk interacted with Salvini's account, average views were more than four times higher than usual. Now serving as vice premier, Salvini has urged his government to move ahead with controversial contracts for Starlink and pushed back against European efforts to regulate content on X.
And Musk has a friend in Brussels: Fidias Panayiotou — a 25-year-old social media influencer from Cyprus. Before winning a surprise seat in the European Parliament last year, the Cypriot spent weeks on a quest to get Elon Musk to hug him. In January 2023, his wish came true. Their embrace went viral. Since taking office, Panayiotou has praised X on the floor of the European Parliament, pushed back against regulations that impact the platform, and credited Musk with sparking his call to fire 80% of EU bureaucrats.
Musk, evidently, was pleased. 'Vote for Fidias,' he wrote on X. 'He is smart, super high energy and genuinely cares about you!'
The endorsement has been viewed 11.5 million times.
—-
—-
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
STEPHEN GLOVER: Starmer is signing his political death warrant with his futile ‘smash the gangs' policy. Deterrence is the only solution
Why are Sir Keir Starmer and Labour unable to reduce the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats? Last week, as Vice-President J.D. Vance accused Europe of 'engaging in civilisational suicide', our Government established a bleak record. More than 25,000 migrants have come across the Channel so far this year, a 50 per cent increase on 2024. It seems certain that 2025 will be the worst year ever.
The Guardian
38 minutes ago
- The Guardian
UK pornography taskforce to propose banning ‘barely legal' content after Channel 4 documentary airs
The new pornography taskforce will propose legislation this autumn aimed at banning a type of 'barely legal' content produced by the porn star Bonnie Blue, the Guardian has learned. The proposed action by the independent pornography taskforce, launched last month by the Conservative peer Gabby Bertin, comes in response to the broadcast of the Channel 4 documentary 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story. The programme followed the performer for six months and included her claim to have had sex with 1,057 clients over the course of 12 hours. Visa and Smirnoff are among a number of businesses that have pulled online advertisements from streaming of the documentary, after reviewing the content. The film was condemned by the children's commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, for 'glamorising and normalising' extreme pornography. The documentary also includes footage of Tia Billinger, whose stage name is Bonnie Blue, in a classroom preparing to film an orgy with a group of models dressed in school uniform; the performers acknowledge that they have been selected because they look very young. Lady Bertin said she planned to lodge amendments to the crime and policing bill in the autumn to make it illegal for online platforms to host any content that could encourage child sexual abuse, including pornography filmed by adults dressed as children. 'This content is pushing at the boundaries. We will be trying to address the 'barely legal' aspect legislatively,' she said. The Online Safety Act charged the regulator Ofcom with monitoring whether pornography sites are protecting UK viewers from encountering illegal material involving child sexual abuse and extreme content, such as portrayals of rape, bestiality and necrophilia. However, other forms of harmful pornography that are regulated offline (in cinemas, for example) are not subject to similar restrictions online. This regulatory anomaly means adults role-playing as children to create pornography that appears close to child sexual abuse imagery is not prohibited online. The Channel 4 documentary only showed preparations for the classroom scene rather than the footage itself. Clips showing Bonnie Blue having sex with more than 1,000 men were pixellated, but the programme has still been widely criticised for promoting her brand and for failing to challenge adequately her assertion that her activity is harmless. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Bertin said the documentary would be on the agenda at the taskforce's next meeting. 'She has become extremely successful; she is an adult and it is consensual, so it may not be harming her, but it has potentially harmful effects on people who think that this is a normal way to behave,' she said. 'We should be asking more about the men who arrive with balaclavas on their head to have sex with her.' De Souza said: 'For years we have been fighting to protect our children from the kind of degrading, violent sex that exists freely on their social media feeds. Now this documentary risks taking us a step back by glamorising, even normalising the things young people tell me are frightening. Bonnie Blue's content showcases violence against women as entertainment and allows sexist ideas that women are 'lesser' than men to go unchecked.' Visa's advertisements were placed by a third-party agency, but the company requested that they be removed from online streaming of the Channel 4 documentary after staff viewed it and judged that the content did not align with its internal guidelines. Staff at the drinks company Diageo are assessing how a Smirnoff advertisement was cleared to appear during online transmission of the show, and have also subsequently pulled their advertising from streaming of the programme. An Ofcom spokesperson said the regulator was assessing the documentary and would decide whether to launch a formal investigation. The policing minister, Diana Johnson, said last week that she would discuss the ease with which children could access the documentary on Channel 4's website with ministerial colleagues. Channel 4 requires users to be 16 to register an account, but there is no age-verification process, so children could lie about their age. A Channel 4 spokesperson said the observational film was designed to provoke debate. 'The film looks at how Bonnie Blue has gained worldwide attention and earned millions of pounds in the last year, exploring changing attitudes to sex, success, porn and feminism in an ever-evolving online world. Director Victoria Silver puts a number of challenges to Bonnie throughout the documentary on the example she sets and how she is perceived, and the film clearly lays bare the tactics and strategies she uses, with the audience purposefully left to form their own opinions.'
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Martin Lewis reveals who is due for car finance compensation - and how much they'll get
Martin Lewis says motorists who were mis-sold car finance are likely to receive "hundreds, not thousands of pounds" - with regulators launching a consultation on a new compensation scheme. The founder of believes it is "very likely" that about 40% of Britons who entered personal contact purchase or hire purchase agreements between 2007 and 2021 will be eligible for payouts. "Discretionary commission arrangements" saw brokers and dealers charge higher levels of interest so they could receive more commission, without telling consumers. Speaking to Sky News Radio's Faye Rowlands, Lewis said: "Very rarely will it be thousands of pounds unless you have more than one car finance deal. "So up to about a maximum of £950 per car finance deal where you are due compensation." Lewis explained that consumers who believe they may have been affected should check whether they had a discretionary commission arrangement by writing to their car finance company. However, the personal finance guru warned against using a claims firm. "They're hardly going to do anything for you and you might get the money paid to you automatically anyway, in which case you're giving them 30% for nothing," he added. 1:13 Yesterday, the Financial Conduct Authority said its review of the past use of motor finance "has shown that many firms were not complying with the law or our disclosure rules that were in force when they sold loans to consumers". The FCA's statement added that those affected "should be appropriately compensated in an orderly, consistent and efficient way". Lewis told Sky News that the consultation will launch in October - and will take six weeks. "We expect payouts to come in 2026, assuming this will happen and it's very likely to happen," he said. "As for exactly how will work, it hasn't decided yet. Firms will have to contact people, although there is an issue about them having destroyed some of the data for older claims." He believes claims will either be paid automatically - or affected consumers will need to opt in and apply to get compensation back. What motorists should do next The FCA says you may be affected if you bought a car under a finance scheme, including hire purchase agreements, before 28 January 2021. Anyone who has already complained does not need to do anything. The authority added: "Consumers concerned that they were not told about commission, and who think they may have paid too much for the finance, should complain now". Its website advises drivers to complain to their finance provider first. If you're unhappy with the response, you can then contact the Financial Ombudsman. Any compensation scheme will be easy to participate in, without drivers needing to use a claims management company or law firm. The FCA has warned motorists that doing so could end up costing you 30% of any compensation in fees. The FCA estimates the cost of any scheme - including compensation and administrative costs - to be no lower than £9bn. But in a video on X, Lewis said that millions of people are likely to be due a share of up to £18bn.
