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By Peter Aitken
Politics Weekend Editor
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The saga surrounding viral allegations that tech billionaire Elon Musk has masqueraded as his own superfan account has taken new and bizarre turns, culminating in X, formerly known as Twitter, blocking an article about the story.
Newsweek reached out to X by email on Sunday evening for comment.
The Context
Throughout 2024, users on X speculated about a mysterious account under the name "Adrian Dittmann," believing it to be a covert profile operated by Musk.
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While the account was alleged to allow Musk to comment discreetly on various topics, this strategy backfired—users became increasingly focused on analyzing the Dittmann account and its potential connection to the X owner.
Interest in the debate reignited amid Musk's strong support for H-1B visas and his clash with MAGA Republicans over the issue, with Dittmann appearing in a "Spaces" discussion on X to defend Musk and his visa stance.
Since joining the platform in July 2021, the Dittmann account has amassed over 171,000 followers while only following 1,071 accounts.
These followed accounts include several high-profile figures and organizations spanning politics and technology: news aggregator "Visegrad 24," Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Kash Patel (who was Trump's FBI director pick), Sriram Krishnan (Trump's senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence) and several Republican House representatives.
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What To Know
The Spectator World, a weekly British political and cultural newspaper, published an article on Saturday entitled "The Real Adrian Dittmann," which provided an examination of evidence about the alleged connection.
The publication's investigation presented a detailed background of Dittmann, describing him as the son of a German tech entrepreneur based in Fiji. According to the article, the father had established several businesses in Fiji, including "a forestry venture, a bottled water company and a marina and yachting facility."
The timing of Dittmann's emergence on X raised interest: His account creation coincided with his alleged first contact with Musk through the Musk Foundation's "$100 million Xprize Carbon Removal contest."
To verify their claims, the article's investigators analyzed extensive digital evidence, including social media activity of Dittmann and his parents, Dittmann's appearances in "Spaces" discussions, and metadata from deleted photographs to establish posting times and locations. The report ultimately determined that the Dittmann account was not Musk's.
Freelance journalist Jacqueline Sweet wrote the report, apparently based on a tip from Maia Arson Crimew, a Swiss developer who claims the publication breached an agreement to credit her work on the story. Crimew was previously indicted by a grand jury in 2021 for "stealing credentials and data, and publishing source code and proprietary and sensitive information."
When Newsweek approached The Spectator for comment, they referred Newsweek to a post on the outlet's website, titled "Spectator story debunking Elon Musk 'alt account' theory banned on X," which said that Sweet had been restricted from posting on X for 30 days. Editor Matt McDonald wrote that Sweet had been restricted "due to a supposed 'violation' of the 'X Rules.'"
McDonald posted a day later on X that Sweet's restriction had been reduced to seven days for "violating the X Terms of Service, specifically the X Rules against Posting Private Information."
McDonald told Newsweek following the change: "We are pleased that someone at X Support has seen the light and unrestricted the Spectator story, as it did not breach the X Terms of Service as far as 'doxxing' goes. Given that, it stands to reason that Jacqueline should also have full access to her X account restored now, in order to properly conclude this episode."
McDonald in a separate post compared the censorship of the Dittmann story to that of Twitter blocking the New York Post story on Hunter Biden and the laptop, which McDonald noted also had cited "rules violation" as the reason for preventing the story's circulation.
"Our story gathers together many pieces of public information - his name, video of him on the government YouTube account of the country where he lives - to challenge and debunk a widely circulating conspiracy theory," McDonald wrote on X.
Only a few outlets picked up The Spectator's story and reported on it at the outset—The New York Post and Times Now.
Musk Revives Dittmann Debate
Initially, Musk appeared to dismiss the speculation with humor. He shared a post declaring "Adrian Dittmann is an IQ test" and commented: "Legacy media think Dittmann is me 😂😂."
However, the situation took an unexpected turn after The Spectator published their article. Responding to a post on X, Musk made a dramatic reversal, stating plainly: "I am Adrian Dittmann. It's time the world knew.
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X's handling of The Spectator article proved inconsistent. When Newsweek attempted to share the article, X blocked the post, displaying a warning message: "We can't complete this request because this link has been identified by X or our partners as being potentially harmful. Visit our Help Center to learn more."
Even the original post that prompted Musk's response has been removed. In its place appears the message "this post violated the X rules. Learn more"—though the linked explanation merely outlines X's general enforcement policies.
Adding to the confusion, while X blocked both The Spectator's article and Newsweek's attempt to share it, coverage of the same story by the New York Post remains freely accessible on the platform. This selective enforcement has raised questions about X's content moderation practices.
What People Are Saying
Anti-Trump political commentator and social media personality Brian Krassenstein last week rejected the idea that Musk and Dittmann are the same person, writing on X: "Dear Left: Your dumb Elon conspiracy theories make you look as ridiculous as the tinfoil-hat brigade on the far right. Adrian Dittmann is not Elon Musk. I've spoken to them both. Several times. Trust me, if you think they're the same person, you need more fresh air and fewer Reddit rabbit holes."
What Happens Next
X has subsequently unblocked posting of the story, but Sweet remains restricted at this time from posting. It remains to be seen if X will completely remove its restriction, having already significantly reduced her penalty from 30 days to just one week.
Update, 1/9/25 at 12:58 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with subsequent developments.
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