A European Union regulator who warned Elon Musk against amplifying “harmful content” in his conversation with former President Trump on X Monday did not have permission to send the letter, according to a new report.
Thierry Breton, a French business executive and European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services, sent Musk a letter Monday ahead of his conversation with Trump, warning of “amplification of harmful content” by broadcasting his interview with the former president.
In a letter posted on X, Breton urged Musk to “ensure X’s compliance” with EU law, including the Digital Services Act, adopted in 2022 to address a number of issues including disinformation.
“With great audience comes greater responsibility,” Breton wrote on X, adding: “As there is a risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in [the EU] in connection with the events with major audiences around the world, I sent this letter to @elonmusk.”
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As European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services, Breton reminded Musk of X’s due diligence obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires platforms like X to moderate illegal content and content that is deemed a risk to public safety.”
On Tuesday the European Commission said Breton did not receive approval from its president, Ursula von der Leyen, per reporting from the Financial Times.
“The timing and the wording of the letter were neither co-ordinated or agreed with the president nor with the [commissioners],” the Commission said.
“Thierry has his own mind and way of working and thinking,” an EU official was quoted as saying.
Musk initially replied to Breton’s letter with a post on X saying, “Bonjour!” He followed that up with a post critical of censorship.
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He later quoted Breton’s post and wrote, “To be honest, I really wanted to respond with this Tropic Thunder meme, but I would NEVER do something so rude & irresponsible!” The meme depicted a character from the movie Tropic Thunder with text saying, “Take a big step back and literally, f— your own face!”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung urged the EU to “mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the U.S. Presidential election.”
The EU opened an investigation into X under the DSA late last year for suspected breach of obligations to counter illegal content and disinformation, suspected breach transparency obligations, and suspected deceptive design of the user interface.
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The investigation was one of the first big test cases of the DSA since it was announced earlier in the year. The legislation is intended to prevent the spread of misinformation or violent content.
FOX Business’ Eric Revell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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