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European democracies face new online influence and disinformation threats emanating from the United States rather than authoritarian states such as Russia. Elon Musk, the owner of X and an ally of Donald Trump, uses his network to smear leaders he dislikes and promote far-right ideas and politicians. Meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shifted to a Musk-style approach that prioritizes “free speech” over independent fact-checking on the Facebook and Instagram platforms. . European leaders may fear that if they clash with American billionaires trying to protect democracy, they could face retaliation from the White House itself.
The power conferred by Mr. Musk’s vast wealth and social media influence has been amplified by his closeness to the next U.S. president. X’s boss seems intent on stirring up political mobs abroad. He has supported the far-right AfD party ahead of Germany’s general election and will host a livestream on Thursday with the party’s chancellor candidate Alice Weidel. He baselessly accused British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of being “complicit in gang rape,” referenced a 10-year-old scandal involving child rape gangs, and viciously slandered female ministers, leading to his imprisonment. called for the release of far-right activists. He asked his 211 million X followers whether the US should free Britain from its “tyrannical government”.
Meta Zuckerberg has so far not used his platform to promote his views or extremist views. But replacing independent fact-checking with Company X’s “community notes” model (which asks users to report misinformation) will not ensure that content is adequately policed elsewhere, even within the United States. It raises the question of what. It also appears to be a crazy attempt to curry favor with President Trump after past frictions. In addition to explicitly agreeing with Musk and Trump’s idea of ”free expression,” Mehta’s boss also said he would work with the president-elect to oppose “institutionalized censorship” of online platforms in Europe. said. This will create a conflict between the laissez-faire approach of US social networks and the content regulation requirements of the EU and UK.
Particularly when dealing with Mr. Musk, democratic leaders in Europe and elsewhere need to avoid the kind of panicked overreaction that has befallen Mr. Musk. Mr Starmer made a point this week when he declared that a “line has been crossed” by people spreading lies and misinformation online, without naming X’s owners. But Mr. Musk has managed to set Britain’s political agenda by artificially bringing a historic scandal, no matter how shocking and illegal, back into the spotlight.
Some patience may also be warranted, given the uncertainty of how durable Musk and Trump’s friendship will be. Cracks are appearing in the pro-Trump coalition. A falling out would reduce Musk’s influence somewhat and reduce the risk for other politicians seeking to contain him.
Still, European leaders need to make clear that there are rules for Musk and Zuckerberg’s networks to follow. The EU’s Digital Services Act and the UK’s Online Safety Act both threaten large fines for large online platforms that fail to rein in illegal content, including disinformation. An EU investigation last summer found preliminary findings that Musk’s X violated the DSA in areas including deceptive methods of manipulating user behavior, advertising transparency and data access for researchers. Announced.
EU and UK rules are far from perfect. As Mr. Zuckerberg argued this week, both jurisdictions need to be careful that technology regulations do not stifle innovation. But accusations of left-wing bias in European content moderation serve as a smokescreen for the political and personal agendas of Mr. Trump, Mr. Musk, and Mr. Zuckerberg. Europe’s democratic values are so fundamental that its leaders should not hesitate to enforce rules to protect them – even if it means Or even if there was a risk of conflict with the returning US president.
