EU threatens Elon Musk for allowing X/Twitter users to say what they want.

 

Elon Musk. CNBC/Getty.

The EU has threatened Elon Musk for allowing users of the X social media platform (aka Twitter) to say what they want. CNBC. The CEO of the European Commission, Linda Yaccarino, said that Musk and X might face penalties and restrictions for "illegal content" and "hate speech". The EU has a Digital Services Act that restrict what people say online. Musk made headlines for being critical of the British Government during civil unrest caused by the reaction to immigration. It is unclear how the EU would enforce any judgement against X. 

For his part Elon Musk was critical of Yaccarino's comments, to say the least. 

To be honest, I really wanted to respond with this Tropic Thunder meme, but I would NEVER do something so rude & irresponsible! https://t.co/jL0GDW5QUx pic.twitter.com/XhUxCSGFNP

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2024

My Comment:

This story broke on the same day that Elon Musk had his "conversation" with Donald Trump, which I did listen to for a bit. I don't think that is a coincidence. The powers that be in Europe don't want a 2nd Trump term and they don't want their people getting any ideas of how much better things could be for them if they were just allowed free speech. It's no surprise they are moving against X. 

The reaction to this on X seems to be almost universally negative, at least in my feed. The common thread is "who do these EU officials think they are?" After all, X is an American website and they are trying to regulate our speech. No American company should have to curtail their operations in America to satisfy some useless bureaucrat. 

It is also pretty audacious for the junior partner in an alliance, which is what the EU is, trying to dictate what America can and cannot do in terms of free speech. In a sane world we would be the one pressuring them to respect free speech rights and making threats to them if they don't get on board. 

The fun thing is while the Biden administration does not care, Donald Trump absolutely will. Not only was his event threatened by this, he has his own interest in social media freedom since he's a major partner in the Truth Social platform. Trump is also a man that is known to hold a grudge and I think the EU is probably going to regret this if/when Trump wins the election.  

I also don't buy the arguments that it was misinformation that caused the riots in the UK. Sure, the attacker at the Taylor Swift party stabbing spree was not a Muslim immigrant, but that is a strawman of the protesters position. He was in fact the children of immigrants and it made very little sense for the UK to bring them in. And it was the absolute total lack of compassion from the Kier Starmer regime, along with siding with violent Muslim counter-protesters that really caused the problems. 

As for X, I do have to say that I enjoy it a lot more than I did before. I usually don't have to be worried about posting my opinions and it has thankfully not devolved into a echo chamber. Indeed, I still see a lot of left-wing and/or pro-Democrat positions on there, but it's balanced out by things like community notes and the fact that people are allowed to say what they want. I think it's a lot healthier than it used to be and I would hate to see some losers in Europe ruining it.