Brussels:
Elon Musk escalated a row with the EU's former digital chief Thierry Breton on Saturday, describing him as a “tyrant of Europe” as the two men traded barbs online.
The tech billionaire, an ally of incoming US President Donald Trump, has long criticized European Union rules regulating the digital space, accusing Brussels of censorship. This week, Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg repeated that accusation.
Musk has recently angered Europe with repeated insults to the continent's leaders and his open support for Germany's far-right AfD party ahead of next month's elections.
His latest outburst against Breton came after he said Europe could take action to prevent election meddling.
One account shared a clip of Breton's interview with French broadcaster BFMTV/RMC, in which he claimed he said that “the EU has mechanisms to overturn a potential AfD election victory,” prompting Musk to protest what he mentioned “the astonishing absurdity of Thierry Breton as a tyrant. of Europe.”
Breton denied the claim in an X-post.
“Tyrant of Europe? Wow! But no Elon Musk: the EU has NO mechanism to annul any election anywhere in the EU. What is said in the video below was not at all just about the application of the DSA and its associated mitigation obligations. Lost in translation… or some other fake news?”
The DSA is the landmark EU digital services law, which requires platforms to curb illegal content online.
In Thursday's interview, Breton said Europe must “keep a cool head and enforce our laws in Europe when they risk being circumvented and when, if not enforced, they could lead to interference.
“We did it in Romania and we will obviously have to do it if it is necessary in Germany,” he said.
The EU last month opened an investigation into TikTok under the DSA, following allegations that the platform was used by Russia to influence the outcome of the Romanian presidential election, which was later annulled by a Romanian top court.
European regulators have also been investigating
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)