Unlock Editor’s Digest Lock for Free
FT editor Roula Khalaf will select your favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Brussels ordered Elon Musk to fully disclose recent changes to its X recommendations, strengthening its investigation into the role of social media platforms in European politics.
An expanded probe released on Friday by the European Commission requires X to hand over internal documents on recommended algorithms. The committee also issued “retention orders” to all relevant documents relating to how the algorithm could be modified in the future.
Additionally, EU regulators have requested access to information on how social media networks mitigate and amplify content.
The move follows complaints from German politicians, and X’s algorithm is driving content ahead of the country’s February 23rd election. Musk came out in support of Germany (AFD) alternatives. It claims to save Europe’s biggest country from “economic and cultural collapse.” Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has designated some of the AFD as right-wing extremists.
Speaking Friday, German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz described Musk’s support for the AFD as “completely unacceptable” and strengthened his language towards the world’s wealthiest man. The party is currently second in the polls ahead of the Social Democrats in Scholz, with around 20% of support, and ahead of the opposition Christian Democratic Union.
Earlier in the week, the German Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs said they had suspended their activities in X, and the Ministry of Defense became increasingly “unhappy” with the platform.
When asked whether the expanded probe was a response to a debate that took place with AFD co-leader Alice Weidel last week, she promoted the party’s platform and made false claims about Adolf Hitler. They were given free reins to do so, a committee spokesman said the new request helped “monitor the system where all these events are taking place.”
However, he said he was “completely independent of political considerations and specific events.”
“We are committed to ensuring that all platforms operating in the EU respect laws aimed at making the online environment fair, safe and democratic for all European citizens. I’m doing it.”
X did not respond to requests for comment immediately.
The committee was under recent political pressure to be strict with Mask X ahead of Weidel’s interview.
Last week, Damian Boeselager, a member of the European Parliament, wrote to Virkkunnen to request an investigation into whether the use of algorithms on social media platforms meets the EU’s transparency requirements.
“There are allegations that Musk is boosting his own tweets,” Bozellagher told the Financial Times last week. “The guy may be crazy, but if it’s amplifying who has to listen to him, that’s unfair.”
Letter of response to this article:
Brussels Probe is a key test of social media platforms / Tested from Pawel Konzal in Warsaw, Poland
