The ever-eccentric Elon Musk has completely ruined X. He has turned the platform into his personal playground, creating his own little world where he plays king. His likes and comments can boost an account, he arbitrarily blocks users and he labels posts as spam if someone expresses an opinion he doesn’t agree with – all while constantly claiming that X allows all kinds of voices and ideas. Musk has also often been accused of spreading misinformation and hate speech on the platform. In fact, UK authorities claim that Musk refused to remove content from the platform that his government said was a threat to national security. Essentially, Elon Musk’s X is a mess.

Earlier this week, Musk sparked controversy by referring to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer as #TwoTierKier on X and promoting a far-right conspiracy theory alleging that white rioters in the country are facing harsher treatment from police than minorities. Musk is leveraging his significant influence to suggest that the riots are a result of diversity issues, saying, “If incompatible cultures are brought together without assimilation, conflict is inevitable.” Worse. Musk also caused panic and was criticized by the U.K. government’s Prime Minister when he suggested in a post that “civil war is inevitable” in the country.

Furthermore, a recent report from the Washington Post revealed that several prominent X accounts supporting US Vice President Kamala Harris have been labelled as spam or banned, raising concerns among some Democrats. They worry that Elon Musk’s social media platform may be biased in favour of their preferred candidate, former US President Donald Trump. These ongoing issues are raising questions. Some are wondering if the platform is deliberately censoring these pages, while some think that Elon Musk had conducted mass layoffs when he took office, so the platform is now struggling to keep up.

Meanwhile, it’s not just what Elon Musk is posting or promoting on his website. He’s also allowing more extremists back on the platform who were banned for violating the social media platform’s policies in the Jack Darcy era. Since Elon Musk’s arrival on Twitter in November 2022, several previously banned extremists have been allowed back on the platform, including a user called Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

Robinson, a right-wing activist, was reinstated last November. Since then, Musk has interacted with Robinson on the platform. Musk has promoted several such accounts by posting inflammatory content about violence or by placing exclamation marks on their posts. Robinson has also often expressed gratitude to Musk, praising him as “the best thing to happen to free speech this century.”

Misinformation researcher Mark Owen Jones has shared a series of posts on X showing that any sort of interaction from Musk can significantly increase the visibility of a post on X, leading to a sharp rise in views, likes, and shares — even for posts that had previously seen a decline in engagement.

“Twitter has been a misinformation distribution system, fueling anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim speculation,” Jones says.

Elon Musk’s reign at X has turned the platform into a chaotic echo chamber, where his whims dictate discussion and extremists find a new voice. While he claims to support free speech, his actions suggest a selective approach, raising serious concerns about the platform’s ability to handle a surge in bias, misinformation, and political rhetoric. As Musk continues to stir up controversy with both his posts and the company’s policies, the once-respected social media giant appears to be veering into a misinformation playground, where the lines between free speech and harmful rhetoric are becoming increasingly blurred.

Elon Musk’s ex looks nothing like the old Twitter anymore.