Welcome to Elon Musk’s world, where politicians are paid to be divisive

Truth, accuracy and adding value to public discourse are secondary concerns for the billionaire, writes former Twitter curator Marc Burrows. He’s made sure that inflammatory rhetoric now literally pays dividends

The revelation that Reform MPs Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson and Rupert Lowe have pocketed over £10,000 from Elon Musk’s X between them is deeply depressing – and not just because wealthy, unpleasant men shunting money back and forth between each other turns the stomach.

The whole business is a red flag for how social media shapes political discourse, and how bad-faith figures like Musk rely on divisive rhetoric. The natural endpoint of Musk’s social platform is a constant churn of money and influence, powered entirely by horrible opinions.

Here’s how it works: X’s “Creator Revenue” programme pays verified users with more than 500 followers based on “engagement” with their posts. The more people interact – replies, likes, shares, or time spent reading – the more money flows into the poster’s account. Users are incentivised to create engaging content, which keeps the platform fresh and makes it interesting to the community, and, therefore, desirable to advertisers. Everyone’s a winner... right?

Actually, no. Unlike traditional media, where editorial standards might temper the most inflammatory content, X’s monetisation strategy actively incentivises division. The more outraged people are, the more they engage. The more they engage, the more the poster earns. Truth, accuracy and adding value to public discourse are secondary concerns. This is about generating heat rather than light.

Was it specifically conceived with that in mind? Possibly. Certainly anyone who has spent time working in the social space would have known that this was the direction things would go.

There are two possibilities here: that Musk is deliberately creating descent and chaos for profit; or that he simply doesn’t really care where the money comes from or goes to, as long as it flows. I’m willing to accept either option – there’s evidence to support both.

This explains why Reform UK MPs, with their knack for provocative statements and culture war rhetoric, are the scheme’s most successful parliamentary participants.

According to the available records, no other British MPs have declared earnings from X, despite many having significant followings. This is because it’s not really about follower count, it’s about creating moments that trigger emotional responses – Anderson especially has made ranting online about “Pakistani rape gangs” into literally profitable content.

Musk claims the system rewards “accuracy over sensationalism,” as X evaluates earnings based on “genuine interactions” – but what makes an interaction genuine? A thoughtful reply takes time to compose and counts as one interaction. A dozen angry responses fired off in quick succession count as twelve. The system doesn’t distinguish between agreement and outrage; it just counts the clicks.

By monetising outrage, X has created a self-perpetuating ecosystem where inflammatory content rises to the top, dragging political discourse ever further toward the extremes. It’s no coincidence that Farage, who has mastered the art of provocative posting, has earned the most. His £5,400 payday is a reward for reliably generating the kind of controversy that keeps users engaged and advertisers interested.

The only conclusion here is bleak: we’re moving into an era where politicians can earn direct financial rewards for being as divisive as possible. It’s not enough that inflammatory rhetoric might win votes – now it literally pays dividends.

The platform formerly known as Twitter has always had issues with trolling and harassment, but there was also a genuine desire in the company to combat it. For all its faults, it was a platform run on good faith. Now, under Musk’s leadership, trolling has been weaponised into a business model. Politicians who can reliably generate outrage can effectively be put on Musk’s payroll, creating a direct financial incentive to be as inflammatory as possible.

This is the world Musk has built: one where politicians can moonlight as professional provocateurs, where truth is less profitable than outrage, and where the very mechanics of the platform are designed to reward those who divide us.

And this is just the beginning. As more politicians realise there’s money to be made in manufacturing outrage, expect to see more of them join the gravy train.

The question isn’t whether this will further degrade our political discourse – it’s how much damage will be done before we realise the true cost of turning division into a business model.

Welcome to the future of political discourse, where the most divisive voices quite literally get paid to shout the loudest. And it’s Elon Musk that’s writing the cheques.