Democrats paid a price for forming their politics on Twitter; the right will pay a price for forming theirs on X. Ned Resnikoff argues Musk is deliberately building an immersive environment where far-right extremism is omnipresent. Musk turned X into a vehicle for tilting attention toward his personal politics, promoting Citizen Vigilante, amplifying anti-immigrant Belfast riots, supporting Germany’s AfD, and backing Trump and the GOP.

He throttled links to disfavored publications and labeled NPR state-affiliated media. A 2023 Bocconi University study found algorithmic X feed users saw more right-wing content and shifted politically right. Since then, Musk merged X’s algorithm with Grok AI, which has repeatedly pushed right-wing views, including rants about “white genocide.” Musk can change X’s system however he wants, whenever he wants — and he will.

The problem with X did not begin with Musk; like the One Ring, it corrupts whoever controls it. Possessing it feels like power but ultimately deforms and isolates you. Progressive elites during Covid tweeted obsessively, centering Twitter in the woke era’s rise, which predated lockdowns but was inextricable from the platform’s dominance by progressive ideas like #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo.