TIMES International
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has significantly increased his involvement in European political discourse, leveraging his social media platform, X, to amplify far-right rhetoric and controversial media.
According to a report by Mike Wendling through BBC, experts suggest the billionaire is using his vast influence to champion ideas he believes should dominate society. A central component of this recent activity was Musk’s promotion of Citizen Vigilante, a film by German director Uwe Boll starring actor Armie Hammer.
The film depicts an American vigilante embarking on a violent spree across a European country, killing police officers, judges, and a refugee family in a purported struggle against “woke” officials and Muslim migrants.
Although the film was initially denied a rating by German regulators, Musk made it free to view on X for 48 hours in late June, briefly driving it to the top of various streaming charts.
Musk’s engagement with the film went beyond mere hosting; he reposted a message describing vigilante murder as a “moderate response” to crimes committed by immigrants.
Georgios Samaras, an assistant professor at King’s College London, characterised Musk’s actions as a “crusade,” noting that the businessman is aware of the power his wealth provides in amplifying specific ideologies.
The billionaire’s activity on X has shifted markedly since his 2022 acquisition of the platform. After dismantling many content moderation rules, the network has reportedly become a hub for conspiracy theories and white nationalist sentiments.
Musk himself has frequently shared messages portraying white people as a “dying minority” under threat of being “slaughtered”.
Musk’s political endorsements have also leaned towards the hard right. He has described Marine Le Pen of France’s National Rally as the country’s “last hope” and has boosted right-wing parties in Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria.
In the United Kingdom, he recently broke with Nigel Farage of Reform UK to support Rupert Lowe’s breakaway party, Restore Britain, which seeks an even tougher stance on immigration.
His rhetoric regarding the UK has been particularly pointed. Following a stabbing incident in Northern Ireland in June, Musk shared protest locations posted by far-right activist Tommy Robinson and claimed that former Prime Minister Keir Starmer “hates white people”.
During subsequent riots in Belfast, police highlighted the role of social media in coordinating disorder.Moreover, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) identified 4,000 calls for violence in response to posts by Musk, Lowe, and Robinson.
A key term in Musk’s recent vocabulary is “remigration,” a concept used by anti-immigration advocates to refer to mass deportations.
Musk recently asserted that “anyone who opposes remigration is a traitor”. Ben Tarnoff, co-author of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, suggests Musk views the UK and Europe as the “ancestral home of white civilisation” that has been surrendered to “multiculturalism”.
In a recent interview with The Economist, Musk defended his promotion of Citizen Vigilante, stating it was “worth watching” despite its depiction of the murder of a Muslim family. He maintained his belief that a civil war in the UK is “inevitable,” citing a “reckoning” between Western values and those of a growing Muslim population.
While some critics, such as those at Variety, have dismissed the film as “astonishingly bad,” others on the right have defended its bleak portrayal of a Europe in turmoil.
Conversely, some observers, including former Reform UK communications director Gawain Towler, suggest that Musk’s actual political sway on the continent remains limited.
