10/16/2026
Elon Musk’s engagement on X appeared to fall sharply following Ukrainian drone strikes on data centers operated by Russian technology company Yandex. The strikes sparked speculation that some Russian-linked bot activity had been disrupted, potentially affecting engagement on social media accounts, including Musk’s.
YouTuber Zack Nelson remarked, “Woah, Elon Musk out here getting less than 5k likes on his tweets after the bot farm got exploded.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed the strikes had reduced online bot activity, saying, “it suddenly became a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms.” He added, “A lot of people noticed it, and there was less hate, less division and fewer provocations because there were fewer bots.”
People like Musk have incredible influence over the population, and would pay millions to not only maintain their influence but to grow it. It's not at all out of the question to assume he was paying or had some other arrangement to use bots on his account. If influencers in media, health, wellness etc are buying fake users for influence, so would Musk.
Before assuming Russia is alone in disinformation wars, note that every major superpower engages in propaganda, both on their own citizens and foreigners. It's a big part of how they fight for geopolitical advantage. Controlling the narratives domestically is incredibly important for a country's elitist class.
What does one do with that information? Use it to realize that we have to be more conscious of how we build our narratives and views of what is going on in the world, including our own country. Seek multiple sources and information and remain curious.
