Musk ‘lying like hell’ over AfD interview, says ex-EU tech leader
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Thierry Breton says EU is not trying to censor tech chief’s discussion with Alice Weidel of German far-right party. A former EU leader on tech has accused Elon Musk of “lying like hell” by claiming the bloc was trying to stop an interview the owner of X had set up with the co-leader of the German far-right party Alternative für Deutschland.
Thierry Breton, who quit as a European commissioner in September, having overseen the passage of ambitious legislation designed to regulate big tech, said Musk had been disingenuous in claiming the EU was trying to censor his discussion with Alice Weidel, due to take place on Thursday evening.
The US billionaire claimed on Wednesday on his social media platform: “First, the EU tried to stop me from having an online conversation with president @realDonaldTrump. Now they want to prevent people from hearing a conversation with Alice Weidel, who might be the next chancellor of Germany. These guys really hate democracy.”.
His tweet was a reference to a letter Breton wrote to Musk before a similar chat with Donald Trump in August. In the letter Breton reminded Musk of his obligation under the Digital Services Act (DSA) not to facilitate the “amplification of harmful content”.
After Musk announced he would be interviewing Weidel, whose anti-immigration party is polling at about 19% in the run-up to Germany’s elections next month, Breton sent a similar warning to Weidel through a post on social media, a step which appears to have prompted Musk’s accusations on Wednesday.
