Tech journalist Kara Swisher has a grave prediction for Elon Musk’s X following Donald Trump’s presidential win, including the platform becoming an even bigger “propaganda organ.”
Since billionaire Tesla founder Musk acquired Twitter and rebranded it to X, the platform has already mainly morphed into a propaganda organ. In the beginning, Musk claimed he was simply promoting free speech on X and that it would be politically neutral. However, now that he has fully aligned himself with MAGA, his true intentions for the site are quite clear. Throughout the election, he has allowed propaganda and misinformation to spread like wildfire on X. He himself even partook in posting deepfakes of Kamala Harris, “joking” about her assassination, and offering $1 million to people who registered to vote and signed his pro-Trump PAC petition. Musk’s conspiracy theories about election fraud, FEMA, and more have attained billions of views.
Many non-right-leaning individuals have departed X due to feeling unsafe on the platform. In addition to right-wing extremism, harassment and hatred have run unchecked. Despite hate speech escalating, the platform has scaled back on suspending accounts for harassment and abuse. It has even started to cater to abusers by rendering the block function useless. For some users, it’s impossible to so much as post a photo anymore without facing threats of physical violence and sexual abuse. Yet, one journalist believes the platform can still get worse.
Tech journalist issues warning about X’s future
Swisher has been writing about the internet and technology since 1994. Following Election Day, she joined a CNN panel to share her predictions for X’s future in the wake of another Trump presidency. She shared a frightening prediction of how X will attain even more power. In particular, she suggested that Musk and Trump might try to merge Truth Social and X.
Truth Social is the social media platform owned by Trump after he was suspended from Twitter. At the moment, Swisher notes both sites are terrible businesses due to “meme stock,” which means stock value is reliant on social media popularity. Hence, Musk and Trump may try to do something different with their businesses. Swisher stated, “But if they could merge them and make it a meme stock and make a lot of money for themselves, that could be interesting and incredibly corrupt.”
In the event of a merger, X would become an even bigger “propaganda organ,” which Swisher reiterates is the main reason Musk bought it. She explains, “People misunderstood. They kept saying he was losing money, and I think it was very clear it wasn’t about money.” Musk spent billions on X, but for his and Trump’s purposes, it’s a “great investment.”
Swisher concluded with a warning about the unprecedented power Musk will have with X. She points out that Musk has “interests all over the federal government” and could become the first trillionaire. On top of that, he wields an enormous “propaganda organ” unlike anything Swisher has seen in history. Given his inordinate amount of power, she warns that America could be looking at “a single person … deciding things” for the country.
Most right-wing platforms like Truth Social and Gab struggle to gain significant followings. However, X has over 600 million active monthly users and is quickly morphing into a powerful, right-wing propaganda organ. If Swisher’s predictions are accurate, we could have, essentially, a mega Truth Social joining the ranks of platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram that countless individuals rely on for connection and information. It has already become a dangerous weapon in Musk’s hands, but now it may soon be weaponized by both Trump and Musk.
Published: Nov 6, 2024 05:42 pm