Elon Musk Sets His Sights On Influencing UK, German Politics
Elon Musk has launched a series of political interventions across multiple countries in early 2025, indicating his not-so-surprising desire to expand his influence beyond US borders.
The X owner has posted numerous tweets to his 210 million followers addressing British politics, particularly criticizing Prime Minister Keir Starmer, advocating for the release of imprisoned far-right activist Tommy Robinson, and calling to dissolve Parliament.
British officials are trying to push back against the intervention. “Had Elon Musk really paid attention to what’s been going on in this country, he might have recognized that there’ve already been inquiries,” Health Minister Andrew Gwynne told LBC radio, referring to Musk’s comments about historical abuse cases.
But Musk may be most interested in the implementation (or in avoiding the implementation) of Britain’s Online Safety Act, due to take effect in March 2025. The law requires platforms like X to prevent children from accessing harmful content and provide adults with enhanced content control options, and social media companies could be saddled with fines of up to 10% of global revenue for violations.
The billionaire suggested Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency would affect the law’s implementation.
Musk, who has been called Trump’s “shadow president,” is also starting to work his way into German politics very shortly before the country’s snap elections. He has a planned livestream with Alternative for Germany’s chancellor candidate Alice Weidel.
German authorities have expressed concern about potential (or very obvious?) electoral interference — Musk publicly expressed his support for the far-right party in a German newspaper.
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