French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has called on the European Commission to take tougher action against American billionaire Elon Musk.
Reuters writes about this.
"Either the European Commission applies the laws that exist to protect our unique space with maximum firmness, or it does not. In which case it should consider returning the right to do so to EU member states," he said.
The day before, on January 6, French President Emmanuel Macron had cryptically accused Musk of interfering in European politics. During his speech to French ambassadors, Macron did not directly mention Musk by name, but said:
"Who would have imagined 10 years ago that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world would support a new international reactionary movement and directly interfere in elections, particularly in Germany," he noted.
Earlier, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said he was concerned about Muskʼs interference in the politics of other countries. After becoming a close associate of US President-elect Donald Trump, Musk began to actively criticize or support politicians. He has already called for new elections in the UK and supported the Eurosceptic party Reform UK, calling for the resignation of its leader Nigel Farage.
Musk has also supported the German far-right and pro-Russian Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has also expressed concern about this, as Germany is set to hold snap elections in February.
Politico wrote that the European Commission is obliged to respond to Elon Muskʼs actions, namely the promotion of politicians through the social network X. It is responsible for compliance with the European Digital Services Act, which regulates the work of social networks.
Musk will be streaming on X with AfD leader Alice Weidel on January 9. Since X is a popular and large social network, these streams and a regular presence on X could give AfD an advantage over other parties in the upcoming German elections. This is what European leaders are pressing for, calling on the European Commission to take action.
- Elon Musk has become a close ally of Donald Trump, including donating money to his political campaign. Musk has earned Trumpʼs favor for his help. He now spends a lot of time at the president-electʼs Florida club Mar-a-Lago, influencing personnel decisions and thinking about how to cut federal government spending.
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