How did Elon Musk’s pro-Trump X posts get so popular?

X owner Elon Musk shared his joy at Donald Trump’s expected victory in the US presidential election by posting an artificial intelligence (AI) image of himself on his social media platform carrying a sink into the White House with the words: “Let that sink in”, referring to his purchase of the company formerly known as Twitter.

Musk has been a staunch supporter of Trump and has used X to show his political viewpoints. Following the election, he also said on X there was “record usage” of the platform, adding “you are the media now”. 

But studies have found that many of his posts have promoted false or misleading claims about the US election and that Musk may have tweaked the social media company’s algorithm. 

At least 87 of Musk’s posts this year have promoted claims about the US election that fact-checkers have rated as false or misleading, amassing 1.7 billion views, according to a recent report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).

The group also said that Musk’s posts generated twice as many views as all the political ads on the platform combined during the election period, which is the equivalent of spending roughly $24 million (€ 22 million) in campaign ads.

One false claim Musk made about swing states and “voter importation” had 21 million views.

New research also found that Musk appears to have tweaked X’s algorithm to boost his posts on X since January to promote pro-Trump content. 

The study found that since July, engagement with Musk’s X account saw a sudden and significant increase, with view counts for his posts increasing by 138 per cent, retweets by 238 per cent, and likes by 186 per cent.

Many of the posts either supported the Republican candidate or undermined Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. The increase in views occurred at a much higher rate than other prominent political accounts on the app.

“These findings underscore a distinct pattern that may indicate an algorithmic shift that disproportionately favoured Musk’s account, contributing to a considerable engagement advantage,” the researchers wrote. 

“Musk’s actions have torpedoed the fantasy that social media platforms such as X are neutral,” they added. 

“Given he has previously tweaked X’s algorithm to amplify the reach of his posts, it would be surprising if he were not tilting the platform in favour of Trump, whom he believes is “the path to prosperity”.

Musk, who purchased Twitter in 2022, mobilised a team last year to algorithmically boost his posts, according to a report by The Verge.

Euronews Next has contacted X for comment on both studies but did not receive a reply at the time of publication.