The EU’s top digital official sent a reminder to Elon Musk on Monday, emphasizing his legal obligation to prevent the spread of “harmful content” on X, just hours before the tech billionaire was set to interview Donald Trump live on the platform.
“With great audience comes greater responsibility,” the bloc’s internal market commissioner Thierry Breton posted on X, along with the letter laying out Musk’s obligations to combat illegal content and disinformation under EU law.
The European Union is conducting an ongoing investigation into X, formerly known as Twitter, under its groundbreaking Digital Services Act (DSA), which mandates that digital platforms effectively monitor online content to safeguard users from harm.
“The 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),” Breton wrote to Musk.
Breton said the warning was motivated by the “risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in the EU,” citing Musk’s upcoming Trump interview, and also referencing his recent inflammatory comments about far-right riots in the United Kingdom.
“We are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political — or societal — events around the world,” he wrote.
“My services and I will be extremely vigilant to any evidence that points to breaches of the DSA and will not hesitate to make full use of our toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from serious harm,” Breton wrote.
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Since acquiring the platform formerly known as Twitter in 2022, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has become a prominent figure in U.S. politics.
However, he faces criticism for allegedly transforming the platform into an amplifier for right-wing conspiracy theories.
According to new analysis from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, Musk’s false or misleading claims about U.S. elections have been viewed nearly 1.2 billion times on X.’
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