Musk and the others: Protecting election integrity

What is happening?

Headlined by the second term of Donald Trump, whose win was officially certified on January 6th, 2025 is slated to bring many possible changes to the current political climate worldwide. With presidential and parliamentary elections in several EU member states as well as in Australia, political leaders and experts alike seemed to be more than ever aware of the possibility of election interference through social media. One name is prevalent in this debate among others, and that is of American billionaire and government official-to-be Elon Musk.

 

What is the broader picture?

Musk’s rise in political power came through his open support of Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential elections, during which he became the largest donor in the election and afforded him considerable influence over the public. For example, in October 2024, he announced to his 211.6 million followers on X, the social media platform that he controls, that he would be giving out 1 million USD until the election results to Republican voters. Following his November victory, Trump announced that Musk, lacking experience in politics, would co-lead his new “Department of Government Efficiency”.

Now, Musk is turning his eye towards Europe. In his recent posts, Musk promoted far-right ideas, spread disinformation, and criticized European and Canadian leaders. His actions varied from personal posts, insults, and public surveys to hosting livestreams with German far-right politicians and have been condemned by the French president, the German chancellor, and the British and Spanish prime ministers.

On Monday, January 6th, European Union leaders and lawmakers urged Brussels to fight this influence through legal action. According to the European Commission, it is possible Musk could be prosecuted based on the EU’s new digital rulebook.

However, Musk is not the only power currently influencing European politics. On December 6th, 2024, the Romanian Constitutional Court canceled the country’s presidential elections just two days before the final round of voting, citing Kremlin’s interference and political advertisements spread over TikTok. The election is planned to be rerun in May 2025.

 

Why does it matter?

It is to be expected that the EU’s pushback against foreign interference will be based on the 2022 Digital Services Act (DSA), just like last July, the European Union found that X had violated multiple tenets of the DSA. Unfortunately, one of the criteria for legal action is going to be the extent to which Musk’s livestream with AfD’s Alice Weidel will be deemed to boost AfD’s preferences. With the Federal elections in Germany being held on 23 February, the window for implementation of any countermeasures to stop the interference in one of Europe’s most crucial elections is very small.