Study: Musk turned X into 'propaganda machine' for far right
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- Dr. João C. Magalhães of the University of Manchester, alongside researchers from the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and the Weizenbaum Institute, analyzed 1,500+ events between early 2022 and early 2025 to document X's transformation
- The study, published in the journal New Media & Society, identifies a three-stage shift: dismantling advisory groups and safety teams, centralizing content promotion and rule-making under Musk, then deploying those powers as a 'propaganda machine' for political groups he supports
- Researchers found Musk used X to boost the far right in the U.S., U.K., and Germany, with Magalhães comparing the dynamic to 'what happens in countries taken over by authoritarian leaders'
- The study directly challenges the 'free speech' framing of X, concluding that content moderation wasn't removed but 'changed and used differently' — simultaneously limiting and amplifying speech in new ways
- The researchers warn the trend extends beyond X, flagging similar patterns in Meta platforms in the U.S. since 2025 as evidence of owner-dominated governance reshaping online public discourse
Why it matters: This is the first peer-reviewed study to systematically track 1,500+ events showing how a single owner's politics reshaped platform governance at scale, and it recasts the Musk-X 'free speech' debate from a deregulation story into an authoritarian-capture story. For regulators, researchers, and users across the U.S., U.K., and Germany, the finding that moderation was redirected rather than dismantled reframes the policy stakes around platform ownership concentration and democratic discourse.
