UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Reform MPs, including Nigel Farage, earn more than £10,000 through Elon Musk’s X platform, while critics accuse them of promoting harmful discourse.
Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson, and Rupert Lowe have all reported receiving significant payments from Musk’s ‘Creator’ revenue scheme in their recent entries to the parliamentary register.
As reported by the Independent, under the scheme, users with more than 500 verified followers can monetise their accounts on the platform, which has become more divisive since Musk’s takeover in 2022.
It has been reported that since July, more than £10,000 has been paid to the three right-wing MPs, with Farage leading the earnings. The Clacton-on-Sea MP, with 2.2 million followers, has received over £5,000 from the scheme till now.
While speaking to the press, a Labour source stated,
“We’ve always known that – for every person who spreads hateful rhetoric on X because they want to divide our society – there is another set of grifters who do it just to make money. It looks like these Reform MPs fall in both categories, and no-one will be in the least bit surprised.”
Carla Denyer, Green Party co-leader and MP for Bristol Central described the earning as an “unholy alliance” between Elon Musk and the right wing.
She stated,
“The fact that Reform MPs are profiting financially from posting on Musk’s X tells us all we need to know about how genuine their motives are.”
The Reform UK leader argued that Reform MPs are not the only MPs benefiting from the scheme, though he and his colleagues are the only ones who disclose their payments in the register.
Mr Anderson confirmed on December 16 that he had received £107.50 from the company. The following day, the Ashfield MP revealed he was expected to receive another amount of £1,612.63.
Another Reform MP, Mr Lowe, declared earnings of £1,384.81 from X on December 11. This followed a previous payment of £3,259.18 from the company on December 3, bringing his total to over £4,600.
Musk’s revenue-sharing scheme and political interference
The Tesla owner, a close ally of the newly elected president, describes the system as an opportunity for users to “get paid to post” and “earn a living on X.” He had previously insisted that the revenue-sharing programme would favour “accuracy over sensationalism.”
According to a recent update from X, earnings are evaluated by genuine interactions, including replies, likes, bookmarks and the time Premium users spend engaging with content.
The tech billionaire has become more vocal on British politics, especially in the past week after the UK’s safeguarding minister’s rejection of a public inquiry into the Oldham child abuse case.
Mr Musk has also been a backer of Reform UK, having met Mr Farage at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in December. Rumours also claim that he was considering donating a large amount to the Reform UK party, though this was later rejected by Nigel Farage.
Elon Musk’s posts under UK security scrutiny
BBC reported that UK security officials are closely observing the social media posts by the owner of X and others, viewing them as a possible security risk.
A team from the Home Office’s Homeland Security unit is overseeing the monitoring, aiming to reduce national security threats. The team, according to a government website, “targets the highest risk factors to the homeland.”
The group is analyzing the reach of the posts and those who are interacting with them.
Last month, it was revealed that Nigel Farage has been working as a paid ambassador for a gold bullion company to promote gold investments. The company paid him £189,000 last year for part-time work.
Since last summer, Mr Farage has received £2,793 from Meta and £11,116 from Google.