A new survey released on Thursday proves what many had long suspected: X, the social media network owned by far-right billionaire Elon Musk, is trapped in an ideological bubble far removed from the rest of the world. The poll from The Argument, which was fielded between Jan. 26-27, found that among an array of news platforms, it was only among X users that President Donald Trump has a net-positive approval rating. Fifty-four percent of X users either strongly or somewhat approve of Trump, with 45% disapproving. That stands in strong contrast to his level of support among all registered voters: 42% approve, 57% disapprove. Trump is also viewed negatively by the audiences on several other major online platforms. For instance, Trump has a 46% approval rating among Facebook users, 39% among Instagram users, 35% with TikTok users, and an anemic 29% among Reddit users.  x Datawrapper Content Perhaps even more damning than the level of Trump support on X is how positively Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seen by users of the service. The Argument’s data shows that ICE was backed by 45% of X users, while the agency was at 35% among voters at large. The data verifies the effect of drastic changes made at X following Musk’s 2022 purchase of the company, previously known as Twitter. Musk manipulated many of the rules governing hateful and bigoted content, and he restored previously suspended accounts for figures like Trump and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The result was a significant increase in posts supporting racism, misogyny, religious discrimination, and misinformation—in other words, the perfect venue for Trump, who has supported those values during his time as a public figure. Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter, shown last September. The Trump administration has been feeding this bigoted audience the hateful content it craves. In one widely reported episode, singer Sabrina Carpenter called out ICE for using her song “Juno” over footage of agents handcuffing and tackling immigrants in an X post. “this video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” Carpenter wrote. Similarly, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security have used official X accounts to promote language and terminology associated with the white supremacist movement. At the same time that X has been operating as a pro-Trump/bigot feedback loop, the site has also reportedly been used in concert with the Musk-owned chatbot Grok to create and disseminate nonconsensual sexual imagery, including images of underage children. Governments around the world have condemned the practice, and official action has been taken in France, leading to a recent police raid. But the Trump administration and their Republican allies in Congress have not said much about it. After all, why would they do anything to anger the man who created their echo chamber and funds so much of their campaigns? Read more