Will the EU Fine the EU Commissioner?
Alice Hancock
It would appear that the EU has found a new target in the ongoing war with technology companies: Thierry Breton, their own French commissioner.
Brussels has accused its internal market commissioner of going rogue by sending a letter to Elon Musk threatening punishment if content posted on social media site X was found to place EU citizens at risk of “serious harm”.
Thierry Breton, the French commissioner, had posted the warning letter on X, the platform owned by Musk, hours before the billionaire interviewed US presidential candidate Donald Trump, also on X.
On Tuesday the European Commission denied that Breton had approval from its president Ursula von der Leyen to send the letter.
“The timing and the wording of the letter were neither co-ordinated or agreed with the president nor with the [commissioners],” it said.
Naughty, naughty, Thierry. Everyone knows that the EU has very, very crystal clear rules when it comes to things they wish to enforce. You always know where you stand with the EU. This is true of Apple, which is in the midst of its fourth or fifth stab at trying to guess what the EU wants from its DMA changes. Now this is also apparently true of their own French commissioner.
Officials close to Breton said that the letter had been planned for some time and that the interview, hailed by Musk as “unprecedented”, seemed an appropriate “trigger point” for publishing.
Breton is empowered to oversee enforcement of the Digital Services Act and can communicate independently with companies but commissioners are generally expected to co-ordinate with others.
Tisk. Tisk. That sounds like a pretty clear EU fine to me. Perhaps 10% of Breton's worldwide revenue?
In his letter, Breton cited the upcoming interview and said he was “compelled” to remind Musk as the “individual entity ultimately controlling a platform with over 300mn users worldwide, of which one-third are in the EU” of his legal obligations under the Digital Services Act.
“This notably means ensuring, on the one hand, that freedom of expression and of information... are effectively protected and on the other hand, that all proportionate and effective mitigation measures are put in place regarding the amplification of harmful content,” he wrote.
Fair enough, though it obviously feels a bit showboaty – shocker, from this guy, I know – to preemptively send such a warning, which the other EU commissioners seem to agree with (some of whom undoubtedly wish they got to send it). Perhaps because they're smart enough to know what Musk's response was going to be. And he did not disappoint:
Musk responded to the letter from Breton with a meme from the 2008 film Tropic Thunder, that showed one character yelling: “Take a big step back and literally fuck your own face.”
Might be worth picking up a physical copy of the FT just to see that statement in all its salmon-colored (sorry, pink) glory. While there's no love lost between Apple and Musk, even Phil Schiller may have to cut this one out to frame it.
Trump's response, in contrast, was downright civil:
A Trump campaign spokesperson responded by saying: “The European Union should mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the US presidential election.”
Just a great look all around for everyone here. Congrats to all involved.
An EU official, who asked not to be named, said: “Thierry has his own mind and way of working and thinking.”