The tech billionaire is not the first person in history to be seduced by the thrill of unconstrained power

Elon Musk repeatedly asserts, without evidence, that the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, covered up the abuses of young girls by gangs composed largely of British Pakistani men, in cases that date back to before 2010 when Starmer was head of Britain’s public prosecutions.

“Starmer was complicit in the RAPE OF BRITAIN when he was head of Crown Prosecution for 6 years,” Musk posted to the top of his account on Friday. “Starmer must go and he must face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain.”

Boosting the far-right party in Germany with neo-Nazi ties, known as Alternative for Germany (AfD), before elections early next month. Musk signaled his support for AfD in mid-December, writing in a post on X: “Only the AfD can save Germany.” He also penned an op-ed in a German newspaper recently, describing the party as the “last spark of hope” for the country. Musk is planning an online “discussion” on X with the AfD’s leader and candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, amplifying the party’s neo-Nazi ideology.

Attacking the Italian judiciary for curbing the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s hardline anti-asylum immigration policies. Musk has met regularly with Meloni, who has called him a friend, and appeared at a youth event for Meloni’s party.

Urging support for Britain’s far-right MP Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party (although Farage and Musk have broken over the next item). Musk has said he might donate upward of £100m pounds ($127m) to Farage’s group.

Demanding Britain “free Tommy Robinson”, the far-right founder of the English Defence League – an Islamophobic nationalist group – and anti-immigrant agitator who, Musk charges, is in jail for “telling the truth”. In fact, Robinson is in jail because he was found to have defamed a teenage Syrian refugee and then defied a British court order by repeating the false claims. (Robinson has been previously jailed for assault, mortgage fraud and traveling on a false passport to the United States, where he has sought to establish ties with rightwing groups.)

Allowing on X inflammatory lies of a kind that incited anti-immigrant riots in Britain last July, following the killing of three girls in a mass stabbing in the town of Southport. After Britain arrested more than 30 people, Musk condemned the government for what he called an attack on free speech.

Calling Justin Trudeau an “insufferable tool” over comments the Canadian prime minister made in support of Kamala Harris, and predicted he “won’t be in power for much longer”. (On Monday, Trudeau announced he would resign.)

Enact laws and regulations to prohibit non-citizens (like Musk) from financing activities that could affect their elections.

Maintain, if not strengthen, laws and rules against hate speech, and ensure that they are applied to social media companies, such as Musk’s X.

Refuse to contract with Musk’s Space X and its Starlink satellite division, or with Musk’s other corporations (Tesla and the Boring Company).

Disengage from any joint ventures or technology transfers involving Musk, including xAI, his artificial intelligence company.