The result of this week's election will be largely determined by technology. From debates around the economy, immigration and women's rights being fought predominantly online, to the medium of voting itself – electronic votes are expected to account for 19 percent of the total – the most important election in our lifetime is being decided by software and algorithms.
Our democratic institutions are, in other words, at the mercy of the internet. At the heart of this phenomenon is the world's richest man, Elon Musk. Since coming out in support of Trump in July, he has posted about the US election hundreds of times on X, which he owns, attracting more than four billion views. Last month, he attacked the Democratic party in a spate of tweets alleging they had imported millions of illegal immigrants to vote for Kamala Harris on Tuesday. There is no evidence for such claims.
