EU Warns Musk Against Boosting Event With German Far-Right on X
(Bloomberg) -- The European Union said it will closely monitor whether Elon Musk’s upcoming interview with German far-right leader Alice Weidel on his X social media network runs afoul of its content moderation rules.
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The bloc’s executive arm, the European Commission, will specifically be looking to see if X’s algorithms are used to boost Thursday’s live-streamed encounter with the chancellor candidate from the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party in a way that poses a risk to election integrity, spokesperson Thomas Regnier said.
“We will look at the systemic risks that can come from certain practices on a platform — such as a live-stream — for example, the boosting, the recommender systems,” Regnier told reporters Monday. He added that the scheduled live-stream doesn’t breach the EU’s Digital Services Act, but users of X in Europe should be able to opt out of being shown the video.
“We are already looking into how Musk might be boosting his own tweets,” Regnier added.
Musk, who has become one of President-elect Donald Trump’s top confidants, has been increasingly outspoken in his backing of far-right leaders and parties in several European countries, and he has strongly criticized several leaders on the continent in recent weeks.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has blasted Musk’s support of AfD ahead of next month’s snap election, while French President Emmanuel Macron hit out at Musk in a speech to ambassadors in Paris Monday.
“Ten years ago, if anyone had said that the owner of one of the world’s largest social networks would support a new reactionary alliance and intervene directly in elections, even in Germany, who would have imagined it?” Macron said.
AfD is currently polling in second place in the German elections, behind the center-right CDU/CSU bloc.
In December 2023, the EU opened an investigation into X for multiple potential DSA breaches, including its policies on elections and civic discourse. Regnier said that any findings related to the live-stream will be assessed in the context of the ongoing investigation.
Large online platforms found in breach of the DSA can be slapped with fines of as much as 6% of their annual global sales. Last year, the commission warned X that the amount of any DSA fine might be calculated not just on X’s revenues, but on Musk’s broader business empire, triggering the tycoon’s ire.
--With assistance from Samy Adghirni.
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