Elon Musk’s plan to host a conversation with the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on his X social media platform has angered European politicians – but they will struggle to stop him.
The tech billionaire is scheduled to speak to Alice Weidel, leader of Germany’s far-right AfD party, on Thursday. It currently ranks second ahead of the February 23 general election on a platform that includes ‘defending freedom of speech’, strengthening asylum laws, ending financial support for asylum seekers and scrapping planned restrictions on internal combustion engine cars.
Despite Germany’s domestic intelligence service labeling the party a “suspicious extremist organization,” Musk issued an opinion piece endorsing the party last December, saying “only the AfD can save Germany.” In a German newspaper.
“Don’t feed the monster,” outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told German weekly Stern when asked about Musk’s attacks on him and other domestic politicians. Meanwhile, German opposition leader Friedrich Merz called Musk’s intervention “intrusive and pretentious.” Funke Media Group.
Anger crossed borders, with French President Emmanuel Macron also criticizing Musk and former European Commissioner Thierry Breton, saying the interview would give Weidel “an important and valuable advantage.”
But Matthew Holman, a technology, privacy and AI partner at law firm Cripps, told CNBC in emailed comments that if the interview was legal, live streaming wouldn’t violate any laws. Speak in a healthy democratic system.”
“However, if this had been the only interview Musk had conducted with German political parties at the time, by failing to equally emphasize all mainstream views or promoting one party in a polarizing manner, lawmakers may have perceived that X and Musk were having a negative impact on civic discourse. . And the lack of an interview with the AfD or an effective third-party real-time coordinator has left Germany’s electoral process in disarray,” Holman added.
CNBC has reached out to X for comment.
The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a wide-ranging piece of legislation aimed at regulating content on large online platforms, including . proceedings.
“This includes Musk’s obligation to analyze and mitigate risks arising from the preferential treatment or visibility given to content on certain platforms, including content on his own platforms,” European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said in emailed comments. “he said.
He added that the commission will hold a roundtable on January 24 to discuss risks ahead of German elections, and will be joined by the German Digital Services Coordination and large online platforms, including X.
There are currently only a handful of reports about X’s algorithm pushing content from the AfD, but there are many accounts of Musk’s own posts being favored. I emailed CNBC about basic and human rights.
“If he uses this treatment to support the AfD through political statements and live streaming to introduce candidates, this could easily violate the DSA,” she said.
Ruf also pointed out that the European Commission is already seeking information from X about cutting content moderation resources, so it could order temporary measures to prevent harm to users. “This could potentially include disabling X’s recommendation algorithm until the federal election,” she suggested.
But it is unclear whether calls for such action will succeed and how they might proceed in practice.
Meanwhile, German civil society initiative LobbyControl argues that the interview could be considered an illegal political party donation. The group notes that Musk has made it clear that his goal is to strengthen the AfD and that he is using his platform’s resources to do so, and that the interview is likely to be broader than content from X’s regular users.
“In this case, we can talk about political advertising, because Platform Election promotions through third parties are legally considered donations, and donations from countries outside the EU are prohibited, LobbyControl indicated.
This is not the first time Musk has supported right-wing parties and figures in Europe. Until recently, he supported Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s right-wing Reform Party. He also launched a tirade against the current British government, led by Labour’s Keir Starmer, asking whether the United States should ‘liberate the British people’.
