As the owner and most followed user of X, Elon Musk has increasingly leveraged the social media platform to amplify his political opinions and, recently, those of right-wing figures he aligns with. There are few modern counterparts to his actions, but then again, there are few modern counterparts to Elon Musk himself.

Of course, none of this should be surprising.

Back in 2022 when he sought to acquire Twitter, Musk stated his motivation was its potential as a “platform for free speech." Protecting free speech — not financial gain — was his driving force because, as he stated, “having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”

Musk frequently reflects on the future of civilization. For one, he seems preoccupied with an impending “ population collapse ,” threatening to eradicate humanity. And he joined prominent scientists and tech leaders last year in warning the world about artificial intelligence doing the same. Musk has characterized threats to free speech as yet another existential crisis looming over the world. And he intends to do his utmost to prevent it.

“Free speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters essential to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk asserted in an April 2022 post, adding hearts, stars and rocket emojis to emphasize the statement.

Two years later, the platform — now known as X — has indeed become a sanctuary for the kind of free expression Musk has championed. In the U.S., he’s disseminated memes — and sometimes false information — regarding illegal immigration, alleged election irregularities, and transgender policies. He also formally endorsed former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign this summer.

In May 2023, he co-hosted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' official presidential campaign launch. This event turned out to be a disastrous debut plagued by technical issues, but it highlighted Musk's desire to transform X into a “digital public square.” After the event was marred by technical problems, Musk extended an open invitation to any other presidential candidate who wanted to participate. Trump accepted this invitation, agreeing to an interview with the billionaire Tesla CEO on Monday evening. The conversation began with technical difficulties with individuals unable to join, and started approximately 42 minutes late.

“I’ve not been very politically active before,” Musk stated during his discussion with Trump.

Internationally — where the majority of X users reside — he's been involved in disputes with top officials in Australia , Brazil , the European Union and the U.K. regarding the balance between freedom of speech and the dissemination of harmful misinformation. And he accused a political party in his native South Africa of “openly promoting the genocide of white people.”

“Elon Musk is a master of the media and controls one of the world’s largest communication platforms. Musk understands the influence of social media in shaping political narratives,” said Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg. “The concern is that as he pushes his own political agenda, X could suppress viewpoints that oppose Musk’s own, either intentionally or naturally as the platform becomes more partisan. This could alienate users who feel marginalized on the platform and disillusion some who may have initially embraced his free speech principles.”

Musk’s political transformation unfolding on X coincides with other social media platforms, particularly Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, moving away from politics. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has never endorsed a presidential candidate — and in February, the world’s largest social media company announced it would avoid recommending political content to people who don’t already follow such accounts.

Recently, Zuckerberg has adopted a different approach in comparison to Musk. While just a few months ago, the Facebook founder was giving testimony to Congress about the negative impact his platform has had on children, he has now embraced a more fashionable style that includes gold chains, longer curls, and a confident demeanor accompanied by self-deprecating humor that seems to embrace his eccentricities. For example, on July 4th, he posted a video of himself riding an electric surfboard while wearing a tuxedo, holding a can of beer in one hand and an American flag in the other. The online response was far more positive than to a 2021 surfing photo, where he is seen covered in so much sunscreen that it looks like he is wearing a white mask.

Meanwhile, Musk is moving away from the image of a cool nerd towards what Kara Swisher , a prominent figure in tech journalism, recently described as “the Howard Hughes portion” of an inevitable decline. He is engaging in arguments with those who disagree with him — be it foreign governments or individuals influenced by what he calls the “woke mind virus.” Last week, the British government urged Elon Musk to act more responsibly after the tech billionaire used X to disseminate numerous posts that could potentially exacerbate the violent unrest gripping the country.

Justice Minister Heidi Alexander made these comments after Musk posted a comment stating that “Civil war is inevitable” in the U.K. Musk subsequently doubled down on his stance, highlighting criticisms that the British criminal justice system treats Muslims more leniently than far-right activists and comparing Britain’s crackdown on social media users to the Soviet Union.

Representatives from X did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment.

Of course, some of Musk's current debates regarding free speech resemble those faced by the previous Twitter administration in oppressive regimes that have, at times, restricted or blocked access to the platform to suppress dissent. In Venezuela, for example, President Nicolás Maduro issued a 10-day ban on access to X in the country last week — the most recent in a series of efforts by his government to attempt to hinder information sharing among individuals expressing doubts about his claim to victory in the July 28 presidential election . Maduro accused X of being exploited by his opponents to create political turmoil and gave the company 10 days to “present their documents,” but he did not provide any further details.

Musk's antics are unlike any other Big Tech leader, and while they may be off-putting to a segment of his X user base, they could also attract attention to his platform. Could this all be part of a larger plan? After all, despite publicly criticizing Musk's actions, those on the left continue to use his platform .

“X has maintained an unexpected level of stability amid the recent controversies,” Enberg stated. "This can be attributed, in large part, to the public's fascination with conspiracy theories and Elon Musk himself.”

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AP Technology Writer Matt O'Brien contributed to this report.