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How is the European Union ’s tender to get Elon Musk to follow its convention go ? Judging bythe memes , not well .
You may recall the X possessor antecedently narrate his own advertisers to “ go f — yourself , ” so it ’s perhaps little marvel he ’s romance with flipping the bird at Thierry Breton , the commissioner in charge of overseeing complaisance with the EU ’s Digital Services Act ( DSA ) . Musk on Mondayreferenceda pedigree from the film Tropic Thunderin which Tom Cruise , barely recognizable as studio exec Les Grossman , says ( and then shouts ): “ Take a big step back AND LITERALLY F — YOUR OWN FACE ! ”
The same film contains another ( heavy memed ) line that Musk may be stand for to remind his watcher of by injecting the clowning picture show ’s aura into this interaction with EU regulator : “ Never go full re**rd . ” ( Note Musk ’s emphatic use of the disconfirming when he claims in the same post on X he would “ NEVER do something so rude & irresponsible . ” Ahem . )
There ’s only negatively charged revenue at interest here for X if it alien the EU since the Commission has the power to issue penalties of up to 6 % of global yearly employee turnover for noncompliance with the DSA . The axis already surmise X of breaking its on-line organization rulebook : In July , it reportedpreliminary findingsfor a subset of issues it ’s been investigating X for , say it found the platform ’s blue check system to be an illegal dark pattern and that X also has major transparentness problems .
A second DSA investigating on X has been ongoingsince Decemberconcerning how it react to illegal subject and risks connect to the spread of disinformation , including related to the Israel - Hamas war .
More recently , followingcivic tempestuousness in the U.K. , the Commissionhas warnedthat the disinformation being spread on X related to the violent affray in character of the U.K. may be factor into its DSA enforcement . So this ongoing widely - range probe clear amps up the regulative risk for X in the EU .
Still , maybe Musk visualise he ’s done such potent work tocrater X ’s revenue(by alienating adman , for example ) that the expectation of losing a chunk of what ’s leave behind to EU fines is n’t very scarey any longer . That ’s billionaire system of logic , infant ! ( Er , never go full billionaire ? )
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Breton ’s opened letter to Musk , posted to X later Monday local timeahead of a livestreamed audience on X between Musk and former U.S. president Donald Trump , is probably not extend to help the Commission ’s propaganda warfare against the fickle billionaire , though .
First up , the missive show like a first draught in sore need of a wakeless edit . There are so many words it ’s not now clear what the EU ’s point is . That , ironically , adventure the varsity letter being misinterpreted as an attempt to censor speech on X.
secondly , there seems to be a rather bizarre conflation of issue by the Commission : Breton starts the letter allege he ’s writing to Musk in relation both to “ recent events in the U.K. ” and to the upcoming Trump consultation . If there ’s an attempt to imply a link between the two result , it ’s not clear what the EU might believe that is .
Inciting violence and hatred lecture is probable to be illegal content in all the EU markets where the DSA apply , whereas an audience with Trump might measure up as a very tedious listen , but the fact of it happening is n’t illegal in and of itself .
In essence , the EU letter is a reminder to Musk of his effectual obligations under the DSA to mitigate risks on his platform relate to the spread head of illegal content , such as post think to incite hatred , violence and civic fermentation ; and in relation to the jeopardy posture by disinformation that might do societal hurt , such as by fueling civic unrest or undermining national security .
Given the missive ’s timing , perhaps the EU was worried Trump was going to talk about the U.K. riot and dogwhistle for “ civic war , ” asMusk did last hebdomad .
But no such thing happen , perPolitico‘s report of the consultation . Musk tried to get Trump to assail the EU over censorship but the effort fell flat , as Trump preferred to stick to to his knitting and bash the EU over trade tariff .
Notably , the letter warns Musk that his own accounting on X is under DSA regulation , make explicit address to his personal reach on X “ as a exploiter with over 190 million follower . ”
This is a clearer shot at Musk , allow him bonk the EU has control how he ’s been using his account to amplify divisive narratives around the U.K. ’s civic unrest , and warning him to stop the regional rout - excite or face DSA consequences .
“ [ W]e are monitoring the potential risks in the EU tie in with the airing of message that may propel violence , hate and racism in conjunction with major political — or societal — consequence around the world , including debate and audience in the context of use of elections , ” Breton write .
The EU commissioner further stipulated that “ any disconfirming effect of illegal content on X in the EU , which could be attributed to the ineffectuality of the manner in which X applies the relevant preparation of the DSA , may be relevant in the context of the ongoing proceedings and of the overall assessment of XTC ’s compliance with EU law . ”
Aside from force out back at Breton with insulting meme , Musk ’s quick reply has been to accuse the EU of overreach by suggest , via his audience with Trump , that it ’s seek to censor the views of people outside the EU .
However , content on X is obviously seeable to EU users , and therefore open to the DSA — regardless of any political compass point score Musk may be engaged in here .
The EU ’s letter to Musk turn back a further sting in the form of a pointed reminder it could choose to apply “ interim measures ” to crock up down on noncompliance . Fines are n’t the only game in town — the DSA empowers the Commission to order variety on weapons platform aimed at countering urgent threat , such as require infringing subject matter is taken down or even temporarily blocking access to an total armed service .
So , basically , an EU - extensive shutdown of ecstasy is what Musk is being reminded may yet come to transcend if he does n’t get with the bloc ’s political program and comply with the DSA .
For a ego - declared free actor’s line absolutist like Musk — whose stated dream with X is to own the global town lame — the scourge of being shut out of a marketplace of more than 450 million people might give him more pause than the prospect of being fined a few ten of millions of one dollar bill . That , too , is billionaire logical system .
TL , DR : “ Elon , stop disperse crap & racial gall on your platform or we ’re give way to ticket you a shitload of money , and maybe shut you down ” . sign on 🇪 🇺 https://t.co/mcZnC1bT3R
