The disputes between Elon Musk and the EU Commission are escalating to a new height. The EU has now demanded that Musk submit internal documents detailing all recent changes to algorithms, with a deadline set for February 15. Additionally, the Commission wants access to certain programming interfaces, effectively granting it a direct means of intervention in the underlying program, a “backdoor” through which user-generated content can be monitored.
EU Commissioner Henna Virkkunen explained that the Commission aims to ensure that all platforms in the EU respect the law, which creates a fair, safe, and democratic online environment for all European citizens. The law in question is the controversial Digital Services Act, seen by many as a censorship law that restricts freedom of speech under the pretext of combating “hate and harassment”.
Last year, a heated collision between Musk and the EU Commission occurred when Virkkunen’s former colleague, Thierry Breton, then Commissioner for the Internal Market and Competition, threatened to take action against Musk if he did not agree to a meeting with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, at the EU’s behest. The same Thierry Breton, who recently stated that the EU could also declare German elections invalid if the outcome is deemed unsuitable.
The conversation between Elon Musk and AfD Chancellor candidate Alice Weidel has once again enraged the Commissioners, and Virkkunen’s colleague, Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath, who will be responsible for the planned law against “election interference”, had already spoken out against the meeting beforehand.
The EU Commission could impose fines of up to six percent of the company’s global annual turnover on the basis of the DSA. After Meta recently discontinued its “fact-checkers”, it is only a matter of time before Facebook is targeted by the EU controllers again. It is also worth noting the owner of Telegram, Pavel Durov, who is still being held in France.