Spain’s Left-wing prime minister has called on the world to rebel against the threat to democracy posed by what he called the “Silicon Valley techno-caste”.

Speaking on Monday as Donald Trump was sworn in as US president for a second time, Pedro Sanchez accused American tech billionaires of “trying to use their absolute power over social media to control public debate and, therefore, government action, in the entire Western world”.

The Spanish leader said it was time for democratic governments to “fight back” against the threats posed by the far-Right and the distortion of debate by a few powerful businessmen in charge of social media platforms.

Mr Sanchez did not specifically name Elon Musk, but his comments about tech moguls’ attempts to disrupt democratic systems come after the owner of X took aim at several Western governments, including that of the UK.

He warned about the rise of what he calls the “ultra-Right international” represented by leaders such as Argentina’s Javier Milei and Hungary’s Viktor Orban, a movement he said was being turbo-charged by social media influence.

“I want to be clear and concise on this, I will say it in less than 280 characters: democracy is not one euro, one vote; it is not one tweet, one vote; it is one person, one vote.

Therefore, Europe must stand up to this threat and defend democracy,” Mr Sánchez said. Spain’s left-wing prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has called on the world to resist the threat to democracy posed by what he describes as the “Silicon Valley techno-caste.”

Musk ruffled feathers in Europe after targeting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as well as backing Germany’s far-right AfD in next month’s election.

The world’s richest person has become a close Trump ally and harnessed X, formerly Twitter, to back the Republican’s successful presidential campaign in November.

“Democracy is not one euro, one vote, it is not one tweet, one vote: it is one person, one vote,” Sanchez said.

“Faced with this we have to fight back and we must put forward alternatives… Europe must stand up to this threat and defend democracy.”

Outgoing President Joe Biden warned last week that US democracy was increasingly “fragile” against an “oligarchy” forming under Trump.