EU Threatened by Musk-Trump Interview

Elon Musk’s LIVE conversation with former President Donald Trump triggered an EU representative, Thierry Breton, to issue a stern warning to X concerning the dissemination of “content that promotes hatred, disorder, incitement to violence, or certain instances of disinformation”.

Despite the interview taking place outside the EU, Breton argued that the content of the conversation could impact the EU public order and therefore fall under the Digital Services Act.

Breton’s Letter: In his correspondence to Musk, Breton expressed concerns about the prevalence of “harmful content” on X and urged for stricter measures to be implemented to tackle it, emphasizing the EU’s commitment to ensure social media platforms comply with the EU’s digital regulations.

The letter also specifically calls out Musk’s conversation with Trump as the reason for the issuance of the letter.

X’s Response: “This is an unprecedented attempt to stretch a law intended to apply in Europe to political activities in the US. It also patronises European citizens, suggesting they are incapable of listening to a conversation and drawing their own conclusions,” said Linda Yaccarino, chief executive of X.

Trump Campaign’s Response: The EU as an “enemy of free speech” and “The European Union should mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the US presidential election,” said a Trump campaign spokesperson.

Digital Services Act:

“DSA obligations apply without exceptions or discrimination to the moderation of the whole user community and content of X (including yourself as a user with over 190 million followers) which is accessible to EU users and should be fulfilled in line with the risk-based approach of the DSA, which requires greater due diligence in case of a foreseeable increase of the risk profile”, Breton wrote in his letter.

The DSA law requires platforms to tackle illegal content and risks to public security and last month, EU tech regulators concluded that X breached the DSA and that it deceived users through its use of blue checkmarks.

X didn’t agree with this assessment and Musk threatened litigation.

Listen to learn about the Digital Services Act:

Implications for EU Policy: The incident has sparked a debate about the balance between enforcing digital regulations and maintaining diplomatic relations with major tech companies whilst highlighting the various challenges EU regulators have in navigating the evolving landscape of online content management.

Next Steps: The EU is expected to review its approach to engaging with tech platforms and may issue clarifications or new guidelines to ensure that regulatory actions are both effective and respectful of procedural norms.

The conversation between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has garnered 231 million views thus far.

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