European Union industry chief Thierry Breton has issued a stern warning to Elon Musk’s social media platform X before his scheduled interview (or “conversation”) with US presidential candidate Donald Trump. The interview, which occurred Monday evening, sparked concerns about potential violations of EU regulations.
In a letter to Musk, Breton reminded the billionaire of X’s obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a law requiring large platforms to tackle illegal content and public security risks. Breton emphasized that these rules apply to all content accessible to EU users, including posts by Musk himself.
The warning comes amid heightened tensions between Brussels and X. Last month, EU regulators accused the platform of breaching the DSA and misleading users through its blue checkmark system. X disputed this assessment, with Musk threatening legal action. Musk has also been doing things like this on his platform:
Trump’s return to X after a long absence has added fuel to the fire. The former president, who was banned from the platform in 2021 following the January 6 Capitol riots, posted several campaign videos ahead of the interview. These posts quickly gained millions of views, demonstrating the platform’s continued influence on political discourse.
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Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino responded defiantly to Breton’s letter. Yaccarino called it an “unprecedented attempt” to extend European law to US political activities, while Musk replied with.. well, a meme.
The Trump campaign meanwhile seized the opportunity to criticize the EU, labeling it an “enemy of free speech” and accusing it of meddling in the US election.
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