Musk Foundation ties to Russian trip prompt UK government to drop X

The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport will stop using X, stating the platform "now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate." The announcement follows reports that Elon Musk’s private philanthropic organisation, the Musk Foundation, financed far-right activist Tommy Robinson’s recent trip to Russia.

Errol Musk, Elon Musk’s father, confirmed he brought Robinson to Russia and that the trip was covered by the Musk Foundation. Errol Musk said both men held meetings with Russian business figures and attended a Kremlin-backed economic forum in St Petersburg. Robinson used the trip to post videos from a luxury Moscow hotel and praise Russian society.

For investors, the withdrawal of a major UK government department signals deepening institutional friction in Europe over the governance of X. Government accounts help drive traffic and lend mainstream legitimacy to social media platforms. The departure of a state body over content moderation concerns highlights the ongoing reputational risks facing the network as it attempts to stabilise its advertising revenue.

Political pressure is mounting alongside the commercial fallout. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “We must protect our democracy from far-right thugs, shady tech bros and foreign interference.” Fellow Liberal Democrat MP Luke Taylor added: “Elon Musk is hostile to British values and we must break our addiction to his hateful algorithm.”

The reputational damage poses broader regulatory questions for X and its parent entities. Matthew Ford, an associate professor at the Swedish Defence University, noted the difficulty for policymakers, questioning how new rules could stop "ostensibly friendly foreign actors from subverting British democracy without appearing to validate the free-speech arguments they weaponise to resist regulation."

The Moscow trip occurred as the Kremlin has actively courted European far-right figures, concurrently hosting influencer Andrew Tate. Errol Musk, who has previously met Vladimir Putin and holds pro-Russian views on the Ukraine conflict, described Robinson as a "fine young man" who engaged heavily in meetings regarding Russia's attempts to address declining birth rates. British police stopped Robinson and seized his phones upon his return to the UK.