Lhe announcement of an interview between Elon Musk and Alice Weidel, the co-president of the far-right AfD party, scheduled for this Thursday, January 9 on X (formerly Twitter), places Brussels in a delicate position. How to balance free expression and avoid manipulation of German legislative elections by a network as powerful as X?
Even Emmanuel Macron expressed his concern on Monday morning. “If we had been told that the owner of one of the largest networks in the world would support a new reactionary international and intervene directly in the elections, including in Germany, who would have imagined it? » he said from the lectern of the conference of ambassadors in Paris.
Faced with this unprecedented textbook case which puts the Digital Services Act (DSA) to the test, the European Commission is much more cautious than the French President, but remains attentive to what comes next. “Freedom of expression is at the heart of our democracies,” recalled a Commission spokesperson on Monday, while specifying the contours of a complex equation.
On the one hand, Elon Musk, as a citizen, has the fundamental right to express his political opinions. On the other hand, as the owner of X, it is subject to the obligations of the DSA which require very large platforms to analyze and mitigate systemic risks, in particular those weighing on electoral processes.
A procedure against X already opened
This controversy comes as Brussels already opened an investigation against X on December 18 for possible violations of the DSA, in particular concerning the management of risks linked to civic discourse and electoral processes. The interview between Musk and Weidel will be attached to the ongoing investigation into the X network. “What concerns us is not so much the interview itself, which is not prohibited by the DSA, we explain in Brussels. What we’re looking at are the mechanisms for recommending and amplifying that content on the platform. » In short: can X give preferential visibility to this interview without violating its obligations of neutrality?
You just have to experience it: that everyone opens AfD – a Eurosceptic party to the right of the right at European level – is the last hope to save Germany.
No limited speaking time on social networks
The case highlights a blind spot in European digital regulation. Unlike traditional audiovisual media, subject to strict rules of equal speaking time during electoral periods, social networks operate in a more flexible environment. “This is unprecedented,” recognizes the Commission, which admits that the online space is evolving very quickly.
This situation raises the question of the growing influence of platform owners on the democratic debate. This is not Elon Musk’s first outburst: his current interventions in British politics and his comments on different member states have already raised eyebrows.
-Guardrails under construction
To try to control these new risks, the Commission is preparing a response at several levels. A first meeting is set for January 24: the Commission is organizing a round table with the German regulator (Bundesnetzagentur), civil society and large platforms, including X, to discuss the risks linked to the German elections.
At the same time, the Commission services will carefully examine the way in which X manages this interview: recommendation algorithms, boostvisibility given to other political groups… “The platform must ensure that it is not misused to create systemic risks”, we insist in Brussels.
The Romanian precedent
To Discover
Kangaroo of the day
Answer
The issue goes beyond the German case alone. The Romanian precedent is on everyone’s minds. This time, it was TikTok, whose interference had allowed an almost unknown and pro-Russian candidate to rise to first place in the first round. The outgoing Romanian president declassified secret service documents demonstrating interference attributed to the Russians (the Kremlin denied). The Romanian Constitutional Court annulled the presidential election, creating a shock in Europe. The process must be completely restarted.
In the meantime, the Commission is walking on eggshells: too much firmness could be perceived as censorship, too much flexibility as a blank check for electoral manipulation. A balancing act that tests the limits of European digital regulation.
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