King's College London

The study, based on survey data from more than 8,000 Americans, suggests that people who were already using the platform before the acquisition became more conservative in their views afterwards. The shift was modest though comparable to the effects of other forms of persuasive media, such as Fox News, and was observed across a wide range of political issues.

Researchers Dr Theo Serlin (King’s) and Dr Chenoa Yorgason (Texas A&M) analysed responses to 145 survey questions covering topics such as race, economic policy and foreign affairs. They found that regular users of Twitter (known now as X) moved to the right relative to non-users, particularly on racial issues and perceptions of economic fairness. However, there was little change in attitudes to climate change, an issue where Elon Musk is less conservative.

The findings indicate that changes to the platform following the acquisition by Musk, including altered algorithms and greater prominence for paid accounts, influenced users’ opinions.

Despite this movement in issue preferences, the researchers found no overall increase in support for the Republican Party. While Republican users became more favourable towards their party, this was offset by strong Democratic users either resisting change or leaving the platform altogether.

The research highlights both the influence and limits of social media ownership. While platform changes can be capable of shaping political attitudes, their impact depends on who remains engaged. The study found that more liberal users were more likely to reduce or stop their use of Twitter after the takeover.

The academics said: “Our results show that liberals were substantially more likely to leave the platform following Musk’s acquisition. This illustrates a key limitation to the power of social media platforms.

“While platforms can persuade their users towards the preferences of their wealthy owners, attempts to do so can be constrained by pushing a subset off the platform.”