Elon Musk’s influence over political debate is no longer limited to the United States. Through X, one of the world’s most powerful social media platforms, Musk has become a major amplifier of culture-war politics across the West — and Australia should be paying attention.
A Washington Post analysis found that Musk posted about race roughly 850 times over a recent seven-month period. The analysis found that race-related posts made up around six per cent of his total posts during that period, and that more than half of those posts referenced “white” or “Whites”. Other reporting has noted that Musk has increasingly focused on themes such as “anti-white racism”, demographic change, immigration, “white genocide” claims and broader racial grievance narratives.
These topics are not neutral in today’s political environment. They are central themes used by far-right movements across the Western world to build fear, resentment and division. When those messages are repeatedly posted, boosted or echoed by one of the world’s richest men on a platform he owns, the impact goes far beyond ordinary political commentary.
The concern is not only what Musk says. The concern is how X functions as an amplification machine. Far-right and anti-immigration voices can gain enormous reach through reposts, algorithmic promotion and engagement-driven outrage. A claim that begins as a fringe talking point can quickly become a mainstream political slogan when it is repeated by major accounts and distributed through influencer networks.
The United Kingdom is already showing signs of this problem. Musk has faced criticism for engaging with and boosting hard-right British politics, including movements such as Restore Britain and figures connected to anti-immigration campaigns. Sky News has also reported that X has pushed right-wing and extreme content to British users, raising questions about whether the platform is shaping political debate rather than merely hosting it.
This matters for Australia because culture-war politics does not stop at national borders. The same themes that appear in the United States and United Kingdom can be imported into Australian politics through social media. Anti-immigration messaging, racial panic, “replacement” style rhetoric and attacks on multiculturalism can spread quickly when boosted by local influencers who follow overseas far-right trends.
Australia is a multicultural country. Migrants and their families are part of the workforce, small business community, healthcare system, universities, construction sector, farms, suburbs and regional towns. When online politics turns migrants into scapegoats, the consequences are not just digital. It affects how people feel walking down the street, sending their children to school, running a business or living in a country town.
The bigger question is who benefits from this division.
When people are told to blame migrants for housing pressure, they may stop asking why governments failed to build enough homes. When workers are told to blame foreign labour for wage insecurity, they may stop asking why corporate profits and executive pay keep rising. When voters are told civilisation is under threat, they may stop asking why billionaires and major corporations are not held properly accountable.
This is why race-based outrage is politically useful. It redirects anger away from wealth, power and policy failure — and toward vulnerable communities.
That is why Australia needs to treat this seriously. If social media platforms are amplifying racial division, the public deserves to know how and why. If billionaire-backed networks and ideological groups are helping push these narratives, they should be scrutinised. If local influencers are importing overseas far-right messaging into Australian debate, they should be challenged with facts.
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