German Defence, Foreign Ministries Depart X

Elon Musk and his ongoing intervention in European politics, has resulted in more departures from X (formerly Twitter).

Reuters reported that Germany’s foreign and defence ministries on Wednesday stated they would refocus their public communications away from Elon Musk’s X, with the defence department saying it had become increasingly “unhappy” with developments at the platform.

Musk has been accused of meddling in European politics, and has called for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to be replaced, labelled German Chancellor Olaf Scholz an “incompetent fool”, and gave his enthusiastic backing to Alice Weidel, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfG) party, during a live interview with her on X.

Far right backing

Musk’s backing for the far right saw dozens of universities, unions and research institutions in Germany and Austria announce their intention to drop their presence on X.

The German government is also reportedly in “permanent” discussions over whether to delete its presence on the X platform.

Now Reuters has reported that Germany’s foreign and defence ministries have indicated their withdrawal from Musk’s platform.

“We have become increasingly unhappy with developments there,” a defence ministry spokesperson was quoted as telling a regular news conference.

Australian clash

Elon Musk has been repeatedly cited by national leaders over his inflammatory tweets.

In 2024 Musk was publicly rebuked by the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, after Musk had accused Australia of censorship following an Australian judge who had ordered X (as well as Meta Platforms) to block users worldwide from accessing video of a bishop being stabbed in a Sydney church.

Prime Minister Albanese berated Musk in several television interviews, describing Musk as an “arrogant billionaire” who considered himself above the law and was out of touch with the public.

UK clash

Elon Musk also earned the ire of the British government due to his inflammatory social media posts during riots across the country in July and August 2024.

Musk compared the UK to the Soviet Union and tweeted about the alleged two tier British criminal justice system, which he cast as treating Muslims more leniently than far-right activists.

Elon Musk also repeatedly insulted UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and claimed that “civil war is inevitable”.

Musk since called for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to be jailed and for anti-Muslim activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson), who co-founded the far-right English Defence League, to be released from prison.

It has been reported that UK counter-extremism unit officials are now monitoring social media posts by Elon Musk and others as a possible security risk.

Musk has also shared a fake news post from a far right organisation, about deporting rioters to the Falkland Islands, before he hurriedly deleted it without apologising – an action Musk has done previously when he was caught out promoting conspiracy theories.

Musk’s interventions have also seen many organisations in the UK withdrawing from X, including the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), the Guardian newspaper, UK universities, and British police forces.

In November last year, it was reported that British MPs would summon Elon Musk and other executives from high profile social networking platforms to appear before a UK parliamentary inquiry into their role over disinformation and harmful content and the summer riots.

Musk also clashed with a Brazilian supreme court justice over free speech, far-right accounts and purported misinformation on X, which led to X being banned in the country until Musk backed down.