MEPs question the billionaire’s attempts to intervene in German elections and links with the Italian government over SpaceX.
ADVERTISEMENT
Members of the European Parliament are pressuring the European Commission to investigate Elon Musk’s attempts to influence February’s German elections by hosting a livestream with Alice Weidel, leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party ( AfD), Thursday.
In a letter to EU Commissioner for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen, lawmaker Damian Boeselager (Germany/Greens) asked this week whether the algorithmic use of Elon Musk’s platform met the transparency requirements of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
“There are indications that Musk hardcoded a multiplier into X’s code. This would mean that he undermined the neutrality of the algorithm in favor of his own reach”a écrit Damian Boeselager.
He told Euronews that the Commission had not yet answered his questions.
Questioned today during a press briefing on the reasons for the lack of political response from the Commission, a spokesperson for the institution declared that “this would amount to fueling the debate. It is a political choice, that of not fueling the debate.”
DSA investigation
On Monday, a spokesperson for the EU executive said the institution would analyze whether the billionaire’s live conversation with the German far-right leader was in violation of EU platform rules, as part of of an ongoing investigation into X.
The Commission opened a formal procedure into X’s compliance with the ASD in December 2023, as it suspects infringements in areas such as civic discourse. This investigation is not finished.
“Nothing in the ASD prohibits a platform from having a live feed and expressing personal opinions. What is very clear, what we will consider under the current procedure, is whether the platform operates within the legal limits of the ASD and whether it has assessed the risks”said the spokesperson.
Lawmaker Axel Voss (Germany, EPP) told Euronews that “If our goal is to protect our democracy from social media interference, such events show that the ASD is not up to the task.”
Elon Musk’s interventions
Lawmakers also question advanced negotiations between the Italian government and Elon Musk’s SpaceX over encryption systems for government communications via the Starlink satellite network.
Alexandra Geese (Germany/Greens) wrote on X: “Meloni’s $1.5 billion deal with SpaceX hands over Italian government, defense and military communications to an unpredictable proto-fascist individual, part of a future U.S. government threatening Ukraine. Security European Union is at stake! Where is the outcry?”
European leaders spoke on Monday about Elon Musk’s interventions in European politics.
“Ten years ago, who could have imagined it if we had been told that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world would support a new international reactionary movement and directly intervene in elections, including in Germany”declared French President Emmanuel Macron during the annual gathering of French ambassadors, without naming Elon Musk, but leaving little doubt about his target.
“I find it worrying that a man with enormous access to social media and enormous economic resources would get so directly involved in the internal affairs of other countries,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told NRK, the public broadcaster.
