EU Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath warns Elon Musk over web interview with far-right party
Musk has been accused of using his platform – and his 200 million plus followers – to interfere in European elections and politics, and of amplifying far-right and extremist rhetoric
The European Union fired a warning shot to Elon Musk ahead of his live web interview with a far-right German Party on Thursday night.
EU Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath warned the bloc was prepared to act if the event breached European law. Musk livestreamed the chat with the joint leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, on his X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, at 6pm on Thursday.
McGrath said the EU would be closely monitoring the event to see if Musk used X’s in-built algorithms to artificially boost the prominence of the interview to hand an advantage to the AfD in upcoming German elections.
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The former finance minister told RTÉ: “The issue at hand is whether there is unfair amplification of certain content. There is never an issue or problem with the conducting of any interview. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in the EU, and it falls to me to ensure that that right is upheld and protected at all times.
“But clearly, very large online platforms have enormous power, and they have the ability to amplify certain content above and beyond other content.”
Musk is a long-time supporter of AfD, which is currently in second place in the German election campaign, with voters going to the polls on February 23.
Musk has been accused of using his platform – and his 200 million plus followers – to interfere in European elections and politics, and of amplifying far-right and extremist rhetoric.
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