Elon Musk is to meet the EU’s internal market chief after the bloc demanded that Twitter keeps censoring free speech.
Elon Musk is reportedly set to meet the EU’s Internal Market Commissioner, Thierry Breton, over concerns from Brussels that Twitter will soon start protecting freedom of speech.
Musk’s vision of a more open Twitter appears to have greatly upset bigwigs in Brussels, with officials from the European Union now having repeatedly demanded that the bloc continues censoring content it deems problematic.
Such a position appears to have set the billionaire on a collision course with the EU elite, who have only just passed further laws censoring the internet across the transnational union earlier this year.
After Breton himself cryptically threatened that the platform must “fly by [the European Union’s] rules”, POLITICO reports that Musk reached out to the pro-censorship tsar to address his concerns surrounding content moderation.
The publication now reports that Breton and Musk will meet sometime over the coming weeks to discuss the issue.
Elon Musk Told by London’s Sadiq Khan, EU Chief to Censor ‘Digital Hate’ on Twitter https://t.co/pu2XBoJO1N
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 29, 2022
While some believe Musk’s takeover of Twitter has the possibility of greatly expanding freedom of expression online, the multi-billionaire’ purchase of the platform has been met with open hostility from European sources, which has pursued a regime of rampant online censorship over the last number years.
Such censorship hit a new zenith earlier this year, with the bloc passing its new Digital Services Act, which forces big tech companies to clamp down on “disinformation”, as well as content deemed either illegal or “harmful” by the EU.
Bureaucrats from the union have even gone so far as to brag that the law will end up bringing to an end the “wild west” era of the internet when it comes into force in 2024.
“With the DSA we help create a safe and accountable online environment,” one mandarin declared, despite many raising concerns that the bill will have major negative effects on freedom of speech.
However, such detrimental effects may be less of a bug and more of a feature of the law, with EU elites denouncing Musk’s attempt to liberalise online speech after it was announced that the Tesla-owner would be looking to purchase the platform earlier this year.
Thierry Breton himself even traveled to the Tesla car factory in Austin, Texas, to confront Musk over the issue face to face, a move that resulted in Musk conceding that Twitter would continue to ban any content the EU required it to.
Sadly, it does not appear that Elon Musk will fare any better in his next meeting with Breton either, with Reuters reporting that the PayPal founder aims to simply reassure the Eurocrat that all the content Brussels wants to be censored will be censored.
Elon Musk Says He Is ‘Exactly Aligned’ with Censorious European Union on Internet Speechhttps://t.co/kTKlpMn9az
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 10, 2022
Follow Peter Caddle on Twitter: @Peter_Caddle
Follow Breitbart London on Facebook: Breitbart London
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/11/01/no-free-birds-here-musk-to-meet-eu-bigwig-after-bloc-demands-twitter-censorship-of-free-speech-continues/