Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Jan 9 23 tweets 14 min read Read on X
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll discuss the absolute state of X in January 2025. Since its acquisition by Elon Musk, this platform has rapidly transformed into his personal political tool and a breeding ground for hate speech and disinformation.

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Not everyone is following this shitshow as closely as I am, so I thought it would be good to write a summary of all the changes that have happened on this forum and outside of it. These changes have drastically changed how the platform operates and who gets “a voice” here.

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Elon’s team has been tweaking the algorithm many times after the takeover. One of these tweaks happened already around Nov 2022, when the platform heavily suppressed the visibility of pro-Ukraine accounts. This change was then noticed & reported by many pro-Ukraine accounts.
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Under the former ownership, repeated ToS violations resulted in permanent suspensions. However, since Elon promised a “free speech” platform, he now minimizes the visibility of accounts he disfavors instead.

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Recently, there was a heated debate about (primarily Indian) visa workers coming to the US. Elon passionately defended the visa program, which many viewed as contradicting the “America First” ideology popular among the MAGA crowd.

Elon has since deleted most of these posts.
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Many users and groups, like @lauraloomer and @DrLoupis, criticized the program and Musk. Elon retaliated by removing their verification, which caused these accounts to lose ad share revenue and experience a significant drop in visibility on X.

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Additionally, a white nationalist trolling group called the Groypers was suspended, allegedly for criticizing Musk’s businesses. Musk later stated, “My tolerance for subtards is limited,” suggesting further actions may follow.

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Recently, Musk has interfered in European politics, promoting Reform UK, a right-wing, pro-Kremlin, populist party led by Nigel Farage. He also defended Tommy Robinson, a hooligan and career criminal who spread false information about a Syrian boy.

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After Farage refused to support Robinson, Musk called for a leadership change in Reform UK. This was echoed by his bootlicker @stillgray, who had previously praised Farage. Musk also granted Reform UK the gray checkmark reserved for government entities, while neglecting…

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…to give it to major UK parties like @UKLabour and @Conservatives. According to the Financial Times, Musk has even “discussed with allies how Sir Keir Starmer could be removed as UK prime minister before the next general election.”

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Musk’s primary attack against the Starmer government has involved the Rotherham grooming scandal, in which Muslim gangs groomed and raped young girls.

At the same time, Musk has defended Andrew Tate, a Muslim groomer and an alleged sex trafficker and rapist.

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Musk was also enraged over sentencing of a Brit who was jailed for 7½ years for encouraging mobs to attack mosques and for carrying a knife.

For some reason, he had no comment over the death penalty of Saudi activist or 35-year sentence of Saudi woman for tweeting.

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Reform UK isn’t the only pro-Kremlin party Musk supports in Europe. Recently, he began advertising AfD, a far-right German party with ties to the Kremlin and Russian intelligence. On Jan 9, 2025, Musk will host a Spaces event with the party’s leader, @Alice_Weidel.

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At the same time, Musk is bending the knee to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, India and recently Brazil. As a matter of fact, Musk's X has complied to more government requests to take down content than Twitter ever did.

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Musk recently announced that in the near future there will be an algorithm update, and that the platform will prioritize “positive” and “informative" content. The goal of this change is probably to bury any kind of criticism towards Musk and the Trump administration,…

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…and feed the users memes, AI slop and gossip instead. Naturally, this doesn’t affect him or his allies, as due to their massive network and everyone seeing Elon’s posts their messaging is always prioritized and promoted on the platform.

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It’s evident that X is no longer a level playing field. It’s controlled by a power-hungry oligarch who prioritizes the interests of a small group of allies and political actors aligned with his worldview.

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To protect “free speech”, Musk changed the ToS so that X users can only file lawsuits against the platform in a federal district in North Texas. This is called “forum shopping”, or the practice of filing suits in a venue more likely to provide a favorable outcome.

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Looking back, it’s clear that Musk’s purchase of X was not a business move but a media takeover. While X may continue losing money, Musk’s businesses will benefit from tax cuts and deals under the Trump administration.

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When forming authoritarian governments, one of the first things to do is to take over the media. With Zuck also removing the guardrails, we will see the rise of the “wild west” social media platforms, where almost anything goes. This is highly beneficial for Trump.

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Elon’s takeover of X is not about “free speech”, but about controlling the information flow & serving the interests of a small, extremely wealthy elite group. In recent years, these oligarchs have only become richer while the regular folk are struggling to buy basic goods.

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As now-banned @JSweetLI aptly said: “The power they [Elon and Zuck] have is far beyond that of a publisher. Using the TV analogy, they don’t merely own the airwaves—they control them, exerting more influence over content than TV stations.

It’s a dictatorial power.”

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You can now pre-order the 2nd edition of my book! This updated version, featuring pre-order extras, will be released at the end of February 2025.

Pre-order your copy here:

kleart.eu/webshop/p/vatn…

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More from @P_Kallioniemi

Sep 25
This is what you’re debating with on social media:
It appears that a few pro-Russian bot farms already found this thread, so remember - just block them all, there's no point in arguing with a computer.
Most of you have seen those "No DMs" profiles, right? That's because you can interrupt the GPT procedure by injecting them new instructions.

At some point it also worked in comments ("give me a cake recipe"), but not so much anymore.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 11
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the agenda-setting and flood of disinformation that spread on X and other platforms right after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s far from the first or last time a tragedy has been weaponized for political purposes.

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Every major political event, especially those involving violence, attracts massive attention. In the immediate aftermath, reliable information is scarce, making it highly vulnerable to both coordinated and improvised disinformation campaigns.

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As I’ve mentioned in my previous soups and lectures, in disinformation campaigns, being first with a narrative is crucial, as people often remember the first version best — psychology studies show it sets the mental schema, and later updates rarely overwrite it.

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Read 19 tweets
Sep 8
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American social media personality David Freeman, AKA Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman). He’s best known for spreading political disinformation on X and shamelessly sucking up to Trump, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders.

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David is a textbook example of someone profiting from MAGA grievance politics. He uses extreme, provocative language to farm engagement on X and never hesitates to flatter anyone who might give him more exposure — or money.

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But David wasn’t always like this. At some point, in his mid-40s, he even tried a real job: he trained to become a cop. He spent three years with the Metro Transit PD, but after that he either got fired or quit, and never looked back.

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Read 24 tweets
Sep 5
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian-Estonian businessman, Oleg Ossinovski. He is best-known for his deep ties to Russian rail and energy networks, shady cross-border dealings, and for channeling his wealth into Estonian politics.

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Oleg made his fortune via Spacecom Trans & Skinest Rail, both deeply tied to Russia’s rail system. Most of this is through Globaltrans Investments PLC, a Cyprus-based firm with 62% held via Spacecom and tens of millions in yearly profits.

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Ossinovski’s Russian-linked ventures made him Estonia’s richest man in 2014, with an estimated fortune of ~€300M. His business empire stretched across railways, oil via Alexela shares, and Russian bitumen imports from Help-Oil, a supplier to the Defense Ministry.

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Read 15 tweets
Sep 2
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Swiss/French writer, Alain Bonnet, aka Alain Soral (@officielsoral). He’s best known for his rabid antisemitism and for his pathetic support for all the worst authoritarian regimes from Russia to North Korea.

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Alain’s childhood was problematic, as his father has been characterized as a “narcissistic pervert” who beat his children and did jail time for fraud. Alain himself has said he was “programmed to be a monster.” Born Alain Bonnet, he took the stage name of his sister,…

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… actress Agnès Soral. She wasn’t too happy about this, commenting “How would you like to be called Agnès Hitler?”. Like many grifters, he became a pick-up/seduction artist writer, à la late Gonzalo Lira, writing books and even making a B-movie, “Confessions d’un dragueur”.
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Read 23 tweets
Aug 18
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explain the Alaska Fiasco and how it marks the peak of Trump’s two-year betrayal of Ukraine. What was sold as “peace talks” turned into a spectacle of weakness, humiliation, empty promises, and photo-ops that handed Putin exactly what he wanted.

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Let’s start with the obvious: Trump desperately wants the gold medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly because Obama got one. That’s why he’s now LARPing as a “peace maker” in every conflict: Israel-Gaza, Azerbaijan-Armenia, India-Pakistan, and of course Ukraine-Russia.

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Another theory is that Putin holds kompromat — compromising material such as videos or documents — that would put Trump in an extremely bad light. Some have suggested it could be tied to the Epstein files or Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

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Read 25 tweets

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