The European Union sent a warning letter to X owner Elon Musk on Monday reminding him of the bloc’s rules against promoting “harmful content” ahead of the billionaire tech mogul’s interview with former President Trump on the social platform.
“With great audience comes greater responsibility,” wrote Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for Internal Market, in a post on X. “As there is a risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in in connection with events with major audience around the world, I sent this letter to @elonmusk.”
The letter reminded Musk that X is subject to the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the bloc’s relatively new law regulating illegal content and disinformation on large social media platforms.
Breton noted this includes ensuring X has measures in place to prevent “the amplification of harmful content in connection with relevant events, including livestreaming, which, if unaddressed, might increase the risk profile of X and generate detrimental effects on civic discourse and public security.”
“Let me clarify that any negative effect of illegal content on X in the EU … may be relevant in the context of the ongoing proceedings and of the overall assessment of X’s compliance with EU law,” the commissioner added.
He pointed to the recent violent unrest in the United Kingdom as an example. A spokesperson recently said X’s response to the riots in the U.K. could influence its ongoing investigation into the platform’s compliance with the DSA, according to Reuters.
The warning letter comes ahead of Musk’s interview with Trump on Monday night. Musk, who endorsed the former president’s bid for reelection last month, has said the “live conversation” will be “unscripted with no limits on subject matter.”
X CEO Linda Yaccarino pushed back on the letter in a post on the platform, calling it an “unprecedented attempt to stretch a law intended to apply in Europe to political activities in the US.”
“It also patronizes European citizens, suggesting they are incapable of listening to a conversation and drawing their own conclusions,” she added.
Musk himself responded with a meme from the movie “Tropic Thunder” that included an explict phrase written in block letters over a frame from the film.
“To be honest, I really wanted to respond with this Tropic Thunder meme, but I would NEVER do something so rude & irresponsible!” he wrote on X.
The Trump campaign also slammed the EU over the commissioner’s warning letter Monday, saying the bloc “should mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the U.S. Presidential election.”
“Only in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ America can an un-Democratic foreign organization feel emboldened enough to tell this country what to do,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“They know that a President Trump victory means America will no longer be ripped off because he will smartly utilize tariffs and renegotiated trade deals that puts America First,” he continued. “Let us be very clear: the European Union is an enemy of free speech and has no authority of any kind to dictate how we campaign.”
Updated at 5:28 p.m.