Elon Musk and the troubling relationship between social media giants and democratic politics

Elon Musk seems to enjoy awkward surprise appearances. Joining a far-right rally in London via livestream, he demanded the “dissolution” of the British parliament, falsely linked immigration to violence, and warned that the only option for protesters was to “fight back” or “die”.

He did similar in January 2025 when he joined a campaign event of the German far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD). Again over video he told supporters that “the German people are really an ancient nation” and the AfD is “the best hope for the future of Germany”.

It appears that the currently second-richest person in the world has become a mascot for the European far-right. In 2022, Musk bought one of the major social media platforms, then Twitter, to promote “free speech”. He stepped right into the ongoing “culture war” that is currently polarising US politics and finding traction across Europe. This makes him a problem for democratic politics.

The combination of massive wealth, far-right ideology and power over a large share of public discourse is a recurrent issue for democracy in general, but its negative effects have become even more prevalent in the age of social media. Two aspects are of particular importance here: social media companies’ monetising of user data and a dependence of democratic politics on platform...

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