“Haters will say this is AI”. An Analysis of Elon Musk’s Twitter (X) Profile in the Context of Presidential Elections and Political Events

Abstract

The article analyzed Elon Musk’s activity on the X platform (formerly Twitter) in the context of his potential influence on political discourse during the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The study focused on the content of selected Musk posts and user reactions (comments, shares), using a qualitative approach to identify narratives and ways of generating controversy. No empirical research was conducted to determine the actual impact of these posts on voters’ decisions; thus, the conclusions refer only to potential effects of Musk’s social media activity. The paper discusses the management of X after Musk’s acquisition, changes in algorithms and content moderation, and the role of posts generated by artificial intelligence. Findings indicated that Musk’s posts could contribute to public opinion polarization, provoke controversy, and reinforce political narratives online, while highlighting regulatory challenges associated with social media and AI.