Stepping directly into American domestic politics, the European Union demanded Monday that X owner Elon Musk abide by Brussels’ speech restrictions during his planned uncensored interview with Donald Trump.
In a letter addressed to tech billionaire Elon Musk on Monday, ahead of his planned uncensored interview with former President Donald Trump, Thierry Breton, the European Commission’s chief censorship czar, threatened to deploy all powers available to him under the Digital Services Act (DSA) against X if the U.S. presidential candidate breaches EU restrictions on speech.
“I am writing to you in the context of recent events in the United Kingdom and in relation to the planned broadcast on your platform X of a live conversation between a US presidential candidate and yourself, which will also be accessible to users in the EU,” the French Eurocrat opened in his letter to Musk.
Breton said that because the Trump interview will be broadcast live throughout the EU on X, Brussels will “monitor” the “dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political – or societal – events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections.”
The EU censorship chief demanded, therefore, that X implement “mitigation measures” against the “amplification of harmful content” that may “generate detrimental effects on civic discourse and public security” in Europe.
Breton claimed that social media had fomented the recent anti-mass migration riots and protests in the UK following the mass stabbing at a children’s dance party in Southport last month and thus demanded restrictions be put in place on X during the Trump interview and other major world events.
“This is important against the background of recent examples of public unrest brought about by the amplification of content that promotes hatred, disorder, incitement to violence, or certain instances of disinformation,” he wrote, adding: “I therefore urge you to promptly ensure the effectiveness of your systems and to report measures taken to my team.”
The top Eurocrat said that his office will be “extremely vigilant” in looking for any breaches of the DSA speech codes and vowed to “make full use of our toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from serious harm.”
According to the EU, “interim measures” can include “orders to terminate or remedy alleged infringements,” meaning that the bloc may demand that Musk remove or censor his interview with the former American president.
Large platforms found to be in violation of the DSA face fines of up to six per cent of the firm’s “total worldwide annual turnover in the preceding financial year” and even face a potential suspension from operating within the European Union. Musk’s X is already under investigation for supposed breaches of the bloc’s “disinformation” policies.
Responding to the Frenchman’s letter on Monday, Mr Musk replied: “Bonjour!” and added in a separate post: “Thierry always reminds me of the French taunter from Monty Python.”
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— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024