Musk Dismisses EU Warnings About Trump Interview

Elon Musk on Monday posted an explicit meme in response to warnings from an EU official about European content moderation obligations. Musk published the post, on his platform X, saying, “To be honest, I really wanted to respond with this Tropic Thunder meme, but I would NEVER do something so rude & irresponsible!” Earlier on Monday, European Commissioner-Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton, in a letter to Musk, urged him to be mindful of the platform’s obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act as the billionaire and X prepared for that evening's live interview with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. “We are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political -- or societal -- events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections,” Thierry wrote. X is already the subject of a European Commission investigation for possible DSA violations. The EC launched that inquiry in December, and on July 12 issued preliminary findings related to X’s “blue checkmarks” (see 2407120001). There are also two other probes, an EC spokesperson said at a briefing Tuesday. She noted the DSA doesn’t tackle specific comments but sets due diligence requirements that very large platforms active in the EU must follow. The EC intervenes in cases of systemic issues only. As such, she couldn't comment on Musk’s interview with Trump, the spokesperson said. Breton’s letter to Musk expressed general concerns and observations about the interview under the DSA and wasn’t meant to interfere in U.S. elections, she added.