EU alerts Musk on hate speech concerns ahead of Trump interview
The European Union's digital regulator sent an open letter to Elon Musk on Monday, ahead of his scheduled interview with former US President Donald Trump, reminding him of the EU's regulations on hate speech, News.Az reports citing Politico.eu.
Trump announced last week that he is sitting down with Musk for a “major interview,” which will be livestreamed on X.Europe's Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton reminded the world's richest man of his legal obligation to stop the "amplification of harmful content."
The EU in July charged X, which Musk bought in 2022, for failing to respect its social media laws. The platform faces multimillion euro fines.
“As the relevant content is accessible to EU users and being amplified also in our jurisdiction, we cannot exclude potential spillovers in the EU,” Breton said in a statement posted on X.
Breton added that “any negative effect of illegal content” could lead the EU to take further action against X, using "our full toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from harm."
Trump was suspended from X, then known as Twitter, in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol "due to the risk of further incitement of violence," the company said. Following Musk’s takeover of X, he reinstated Trump’s account.
Trump's reinstated account remained inactive until Monday, when it unexpectedly began posting campaign adverts and reposting promotional material for the interview with Musk.
It's in the context of that interview that Breton made his intervention, posting a link to the letter on X itself, with the caption: "With great audience comes greater responsibility #DSA."
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