‘Illegal Secret Deal:’ Musk Claims European Union Tried to Blackmail X into Censorship

X/Twitter owner Elon Musk has claimed the European Union attempted to blackmail him into permitting secret censorship at the behest of Brussels, and accused other social platforms of taking such deals.

The European Union moved to make its new Digital Services Act (DSA) felt on Friday, accusing Elon Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) of breaching these European Union rules, and threatening fines. Musk hit back immediately, saying the DSA itself was the source of “misinformation” and alleging the European Union had tried to broker a secret deal with him to achieve EU-directed censorship.

He wrote in his claim: “The European Commission offered [X] an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us.” Musk asserted “The other platforms accepted that deal” but that he did not.

Musk said, further: “We look forward to a very public battle in court, so that the people of Europe can know the truth.”

Brexit leader Nigel Farage — who long railed against closed-door European Union deal making and obscure practices in his successful campaign to get Britain out of the bloc and away from the influence of Brussels — responded to Musk’s allegation on Friday evening, stating approvingly: “Elon Musk reveals the truth about the EU. What a guy.”

As stated by Reuters today, the European Union has accused X of being insufficiently transparent, and notes the rules require social media platforms to tackle “illegal content” and “risks to public security”. The European Union has also said it is dissatisfied with X’s blue check system, saying it does not “correspond to industry practice”.

Per the report, if X/Musk refuses to bow to the European Union’s demands, the bloc could attempt to fine the company six per cent of its global turnover and “require significant changes” of the way the company is run. Twitter could be banned from operating in Europe at all, theoretically.

As reported last year on the launch of the DSA:

Under the European Union’s recently adopted Digital Services Act (DSA), which the bloc has described as providing “an unprecedented level of public oversight” on the internet, the European Commission will place at least 19 online platforms under its strictest level of censorship by August 25th.

Announcing the measure, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton said: “With great scale comes great responsibility,” adding: “They will not be able to act as if they are too big to care.”

…

The driving force behind the legislation, Thierry Breton, a former French tech executive, has previously warned new Twitter boss Elon Musk that the microblogging site could run the risk of being banned in the European Union should it restore the free speech roots of the company.

Although the bill claims to try to protect free speech, Breton himself has backed Big Tech taking censorship into their own hands, seemingly expressing support for Twitter’s decision to ban then-President Donald Trump in 2021, saying that tech companies “have recognised their responsibility, duty and means to prevent the spread of illegal viral content”.

Editor’s note 12/07/24: This article updated to add further remarks from Elon Musk pertinent to the story.