Musk's interview with AfD leader: Why Michael McGrath and EU are concerned
By Supantha Mukherjee and Philip Blenkinsop
Elon Musk's hosting of Alice Weidel, leader of the far-right Alternative for (AfD) party, for a discussion on his X platform on Thursday was watched by the European Commission - in particular new commissioner Michael McGrath - to check for any spreading of misinformation before next month's German election.
The European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) is intended to address illegal content such as hate speech and intentional manipulation to influence elections.
X has been under investigation under the DSA since 2023 over suspected dissemination of illegal content and the effectiveness of its measures to combat information manipulation.
The European Commission said on Friday that two to three staff were checking what systems X had put in place to avoid infractions around the live stream.
How is Musk involved in European politics?
Since publicly ing Donald Trump to become US president last year, Mr Musk has endorsed Britain's right-wing Reform party as well as the AfD on X. "The traditional political parties in have utterly failed the people. AfD is the only hope for ," he posted on X last month.
Mr Musk's endorsement of the AfD, an anti-immigration, anti-Islamic party designated as right-wing-extremist by German security services, has caused consternation in Berlin, where all other parties rule out working with a party they regard as dangerous and undemocratic.
After a Saudi doctor killed five people in a Christmas market last month in the German city of Magdeburg, Mr Musk called German chancellor Olaf Scholz an "incompetent fool" on X and urged him to resign.
What is the EU's Digital Services Act?
The DSA regulates big online platforms such as X and Meta with more than 45 million s per month in the European Union, as well as the app stores of companies such as Apple and Alphabet. Its main goal is to prevent illegal and harmful online activities and the spread of misinformation.
Mr Musk's X was the first company to be investigated under DSA for illegal content, in December 2023.
A company can be fined up to 6 per cent of its global annual turnover for breaching the DSA, and up to 5 per cent of daily worldwide turnover for each day of delay in complying with remedies.
If the infringement persists and causes serious harm to s, the Commission can request suspension of the service. The Commission has also opened proceedings against Meta and China's AliExpress, Temu and TikTok. All the cases including that against X are still open except for one against TikTok, closed after the video sharing platform addressed EU concerns.
How does the EU monitor compliance with the DSA?
About 150 EU staff are responsible for enforcing the DSA, both at the Commission's DG CONNECT department in Brussels and the European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency in Spain. Their monitoring does not focus on identifying illegal content, but rather on checking whether platforms have systems in place to assess and mitigate risk.
Former EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton reminded Ms Weidel on X about DSA rules intended to protect democracy around elections.
Senior EU officials acknowledge the challenge presented by Mr Musk but insist the DSA is up to the job.
"Mr Musk is free to express his opinions in the EU online and offline, within legal boundaries," said Michael McGrath, Irish European commissioner for democracy, justice, the rule of law and consumer protection.
"The issue at hand is whether there is unfair amplification of certain content," he said before the conversation was broadcast.n
"There is never an issue or problem with the conducting of any interview. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in the European Union, and it falls to me to ensure that that right is upheld and protected at all times.
"But clearly, very large online platforms have enormous power, and they have the ability to amplify certain content above and beyond other content.
"When it comes to the conduct of elections, we do have to make sure that our elections are conducted in a free and fair manner without undue interference."
As justice commissioner, Mr McGrath will bring forward legislation later this year to launch the EU's so-called Democracy Shield.
The programme will look to protect European elections from interference and manipulation by outside actors.
How has Musk clashed with the EU?
The EU and Mr Musk have clashed several times since he took over his social media platform, then called Twitter. Before Mr Musk interviewed Mr Trump last August, Mr Breton urged him to comply with EU law as the livestream would be accessible in the EU.
X chief executive Linda Yaccarino called the letter an "unprecedented attempt to stretch a law intended to apply in Europe to political activities in the US".
The EU has accused X of deceiving s with its blue checkmark, which previously indicated that an had been verified as belonging to a public figure but was changed to designate a paid subscriber. Mr Musk threatened litigation, and accused the Commission, without providing evidence, of offering X an illegal secret deal to censor speech. Mr Breton denied this.
The Commission has also accused X of failing to provide easy access to searchable and reliable information about ments, and blocking researchers from accessing its public data.
