Background:
Elon Musk announced his interview with the US presidential candidate Donald Trump on X Spaces, and in preparation to host the same, he announced some stress or scalability tests, and conducted the same with 8 million concurrent listeners, even as a massive DDOS attack was reportedly carried out to derail the announced interview. This massive DDOS was apparently from those against Mr. Trump, and possibly from those who support you-know-which party, and if really happened, it was a technical attempt to derail the interview.
However, the political attempt to derail the interview, came, not from the continent of North America, not from the political parties opposing Mr. Trump, rather it came from tens of thousands of miles away, from the European continent! That too from the European Commission – Mr. Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market!
Standards applicable to X and Elon Musk, as per European Union:
Mr. Thierry Breton shot of a letter to Elon Musk, even before the interview started, threatening of him legal consequences, with words “With great audience comes greater responsibility“, while referring to Digital Services Act – DSA.
He, apart from other contents, wrote the following:
” … I am writing to you in the context of recent events in the United Kingdom and in relation to the planned broadcast on your platform X of a live conversation between a US presidential candidate and yourself, which will also be accessible to users in the EU.
I understand that you are currently doing a stress test of the platform. In this context, I am compelled to remind you of the due diligence obligations set out in the Digital Services Act (DSA), as outlined in my previous letter. As the individual entity ultimately controlling a platform with over 300 million users worldwide, of which one third in the EU, that has been designated as a Very Large Online Platform, you have the legal obligation to ensure X’s compliance with EU law and in particular the DSA in the EU. …
… As the relevant content is accessible to EU users and being amplified also in our jurisdiction, we cannot exclude potential spillovers in the EU. Therefore, we are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political – or societal – events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections.
… My services and I will be extremely vigilant to any evidence that points to breaches of the DSA and will not hesitate to make full use of our toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from serious harm.
Yours sincerely,
Thierry Breton
Cc: Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X”.
Taking legal action against X for illegal activities is one thing, European Union indeed has those rights, however, writing a threatening letter even before the interview, indicates the political attempt to jeopardize the interview with Mr. Trump. Mr. Breton, in his letter, refers to the recent riots happened in the United Kingdom, and holds Mr. Musk responsible for “amplification of terrorist content or content that incites violence, hate and racism”. United Kingdom is not even a part of European Union!
Standards not applicable to Google, YouTube, The New York Times, PBS, Facebook etc, as per European Union:
Well, there are contents already available on the web, including at the European continent, the interviews with people who have already caused violence / terrorism / hate / racism / atrocities against women etc as per many governments. Such interviews are available on YouTube, Facebook, The New York Times, PBS etc websites, and searchable using Google.
Christiane Amanpour’s interview of Sirajuddin Haqqani is available on PBS, American Public Boradcaster, and Part 2 pf the same interview is available on Facebook. Sirajuddin Haqqani is a specially designated global terrorist by FBI, and The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading directly to the arrest of Sirajuddin Haqqani. As per the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Sirajuddin Haqqani is a leader of Haqqani Network (HQN) and Taliban acting minister of interior, and the HQN is designated as foreign terrorist organizations (including their subsidiaries) by the Secretary of State under section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Haqqani Network has been banned even by Pakistan.
Anas Haqqani’s interviews are available on YouTube, Aljazeera, and New Lines Magazine. BTW, Anas Haqqani is a key leader of HQN, as per the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, USA.
The above cited contents are available fr public access even in Europe.
Double Standards:
Well, even before the interview, the European Union shoots of a threatening letter to Elon Musk to derail the interview. Apparently EU has a prejudice against Mr. Trump, with the suspicion that Mr. Trump may spread misinformation, hate, racism, violence etc during the interview. What about the contents already available on the web, including in Europe – the interviews with the people who have already caused violence / terrorism / hate / racism / atrocities against women etc? We are not declaring the referred people as culprits of activities mentioned above, rather US Government is declaring it! All these interviews took place after Mr. Breton took charge on December 1, 2019, as the Commissioner for Internal Market at European Commission. Did the European Commission ever send a legal notice to the above parties?
A google search for “thierry breton” + Haqqani doesn’t show any results!
Isn’t this double standard? Or, as per European Union, Donald Trump’s interview with Elon Musk is more dangerous than interview with persons who have been designated as terrorists by USA.
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