Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s joint X Spaces event experienced technical difficulties on Monday afternoon. The much-anticipated conversation between the X owner and the former President was scheduled to start at 5 pm PT, but users trying to join at that time were met with an error message stating, “This Space is not available.”
The event finally kicked off at 5:42 pm PT, nearly 42 minutes behind schedule. Trump, who had returned to the social media platform earlier in the day after being banned in January 2021, posted about the conversation with Musk. While some of his posts promoted the event, others included campaign ads and links to his website.
Trump, who has been primarily active on his own platform, Truth Social, for the past three years, had his Twitter account reinstated by Musk, now the owner of X, in November 2022. Musk attributed the crash of the X Space to a massive DDOS attack, where bad actors overwhelm an internet server with artificial traffic. He connected this attack to the opposition surrounding Trump’s return to the platform.
This incident is not the first time a political campaign faced technical issues on a social media platform. In May 2023, Twitter experienced similar problems during a Space session with Elon Musk and others when Ron DeSantis announced his 2024 campaign.
The crash of the X Space has raised concerns about the platform’s ability to handle high-profile events and increased traffic. Despite conducting extensive testing with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier that day, X still faced disruptions during the event. Musk, in his opening remarks, acknowledged the opposition to Trump’s presence on the platform but expressed his honor in hosting the conversation.
The incident highlights the challenges social media platforms face in managing large-scale events and ensuring a smooth user experience. As technology continues to play a significant role in political discourse and public engagement, platforms like X will need to invest in robust infrastructure and security measures to prevent future disruptions. The convergence of politics, technology, and social media creates a complex landscape that requires careful navigation to uphold the principles of free speech while safeguarding against abuse and interference.
