Thierry Breton is not a governor, a senator, or a member of Congress. He is the digital commissioner of the EU—in other words, an unelected bureaucrat who has no business weighing in on American politics.
But on Monday afternoon Breton did just that when he sent X CEO Elon Musk a letter. In it—and it’s worth reading the whole thing—Breton said he was writing to “remind” the owner of X of his “due diligence obligations” to ensure that “all proportionate and effective mitigation measures are put in place regarding the amplification of harmful content in connection with relevant events, including live streaming.”
The note from Breton—which dropped hours before Musk was scheduled to interview Donald Trump on X—was a jumble of bureaucratic jargon and legalese, but the threat was clear: nice tech company you’ve got there, it’d be a shame if something happened to it. More: he implied that the EU might pull the plug on the interview depending on what Trump and Musk said. “Any negative effect of illegal content” could cause the EU to “make full use of our toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from harm.”
“With great audience comes greater responsibility,” said Breton in a post on X (where else?) accompanying the letter.
On one level, the healthiest response to an unelected French bureaucrat making such a threat against an American-built social network, one of America’s most important entrepreneurs, and a candidate for the American presidency is to thank God for the First Amendment, laugh, and perhaps post a meme or two.
Except for the fact that many influential people in the United States see Europe’s attempts at censorship and, rather than breathing a sigh of relief, turn green with envy. People like the Washington Post reporter who yesterday asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre what Joe Biden might consider doing to stop “misinformation” on X ahead of Musk’s conversation with Trump.
Last we heard, “democracy dies in darkness,” so we were eager to tune in to the conversation—if only to stick it to Breton.
As for the interview itself? There were technical glitches—as in, it took more than thirty minutes to get underway—but ultimately more than a million people logged on. Trump rambled; Musk (who has endorsed Trump) mostly agreed with him. It was raw and unfiltered, and a strangely intimate format—I look forward to Kamala Harris’s upcoming freewheeling chat with Musk.
Meanwhile, the citizens of Europe slept soundly, knowing that Mr. Breton was there to keep them safe from all that unruly American speech.
Oliver Wiseman is a writer and editor for The Free Press. Follow him on X @ollywiseman.
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And notice no one was hurt. I believe that Trump is not the threat here, but government overreach is.
Well the EU can go FO . Or come and get me if you can .