Elon Musk’s quest for dominance has gone global

Lately, Musk spreading conspiracy theories on Muslim “grooming gangs” in the UK, and called for Tommy Robinson, a far-right activist, to be released from prison. Musk’s support for Robinson, who has a history of posting racist and Islamophobic content, initially saw UK Reform leader Nigel Farage push back against the owner of X. But in a TV show that hosts on the right-wing station GB News this week, Farage appeared to bend the knee to Musk.

“I don’t think (Robinson) is wrong in anything he says,” Farage told his viewers. “I wonder why he is in prison, and being kept in solitary confinement.” (Robinson is in prison after being found in contempt of court for repeatedly lying about a Syrian refugee.)

Last year, Musk spent months antagonizing Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes after the court issued orders for X to remove a handful of accounts and content that, it said, had violated the law by undermining faith in the integrity of the country’s elections. After Brazil’s right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro lost his bid for re-election in 2022, his supporters Assaulted the country’s legislature on January 8, 2023claiming that the election was rigged (it wasn’t), in an echo of the January 6, 2021 uprising at the US Capitol. Moraes was a faithful Bolsonaro’s opponent. X spent months refusing to obey the order, even handing over sealed court orders to the US Congressional Subcommittee on Federal Government Weapons, led by right-wing Congressman Jim Jordan, who then released them publicly.

At the time, many in Brazil thought that Musk’s actions, as well as the release of the order, were a move to undermine the country’s democracy and sovereignty. The Brazilian court eventually issued an order to block X from the country for non-compliance and issued a fine against Musk’s Starlink after X complied with the order.

He also fiercely attached to Nicolas Maduropresident of Venezuela, during the country’s elections (which many in the international community believe were rigged).

“It has established itself as a powerful hub of connection between different groups of people in many countries,” says Christian Katzenbach, professor of media and communication at the University of Bremen. Those groups include people in the tech industry, moderate conservatives, advocates of economic liberalism and right-wing movements. “These groups did not have many connections in the past, but they are increasingly aligning themselves with the modern governments of the middle/left opposition.” By amplifying a variety of voices, he says, Musk is actively bringing right-wing perspectives into mainstream debates and opening up new groups of populations as voters for right-wing parties.

Even outside of the election, Musk appears to be building alliances with like-minded leaders. In April, Musk met with Argentina’s right-wing president Javier Milei. Milei’s government has cut spending so that Musk said in a post X “It will be a useful model for the rest of the world.” Argentina’s poverty rate under Milei’s government has reached more than 50 percent.

And while Musk certainly appears to be motivated by particular political ideologies, Katzenbach notes that Musk’s involvement in European politics could benefit his business interests, particularly by rolling back social media regulations in the bloc or opening new avenues for the their companies. The EU is currently X probes for breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA), which could result in fines. In Italy, Musk is exploring an agreement with the right-wing government led by Giorgia Meloni for an agreement to launch satellite communications through Starlink worth $1.5 billion, competing with a European satellite initiative.

“Internationally their motives are definitely a mixed bag,” says Katzenbach. But either way, Musk seems determined to be a political force beyond any national border.

David Gilbert contributed reporting.