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Elon Musk at Trump Rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City Alamy Stock Photo

Dozens of MEPs write to EU Commission expressing 'deep concern' over Elon Musk's interference

Among those who received the letter is Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath.

DOZENS OF EU Parliament members have expressed “deep concern” over Elon Musk’s interference in European politics in a letter to senior members of the European Commission, calling on Brussels to protect member states. 

Musk, who owns Tesla and SpaceX, has drawn fire for a string of attacks on European leaders as well as his support for the far-right German AfD party, whose head he hosted on his X social media platform last week.

It has also sparked a flurry of letter-writing by MEPs – both in support and against Musk.

The latest letter today took umbrage with his X posts about European politics.

“We are writing to express our deep concerns about Elon Musk’s interference, particularly in the German election campaign and, previously, in Ireland,” 38 MEPs wrote in the letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as well respective EU tech and justice commissioners Henna Virkkunen and Michael McGrath.

Virkkunen is expected to take part in a headline debate next week in the European Parliament on the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and its enforcement – amid concerns the commission is moving away from its previously bullish approach to social media platforms.

In today’s letter, the MEPs from parliamentary groups across the political spectrum noted that Musk “isn’t just a foreign billionaire” but also a future member of the incoming US administration under president-elect Donald Trump.

The MEPs, including Greens and liberals, accused Musk of artificially making his posts more visible to promote his personal views as well as “misleading content”.

“The European Commission must examine the compliance of Musk’s recent smear campaigns with the Digital Services Act,” the lawmakers said.

The EU in December 2023 launched a DSA probe into X but has yet to make any formal decision on how the platform tackles illegal content and information manipulation.

A rival letter circulated chiefly among right-wing lawmakers is calling for Musk to be invited to address the parliament, while MEPs were also encouraged to sign a proposal nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize.

- © AFP 2024

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    Mute Jack Bowden
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    Feb 18th 2013, 10:21 PM

    What’s with all the IKEA adverts journal.ie?

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    Mute Bo11ocks_to_this
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    Feb 18th 2013, 10:36 PM

    I understand & appreciate the need for adverts to finance the journal. I would say they have become extremely intrusive of late, especially viewing on a phone.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Feb 18th 2013, 11:05 PM

    They have become a total pain. I have adblocker installed so the rest are filtered out but the IKEA ones aren’t picked up by adblocker.

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    Mute John Doyle
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    Feb 18th 2013, 11:15 PM

    I’m not getting any adverts except the sponsored articles

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    Mute Strongbow63
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    Feb 19th 2013, 7:22 AM

    Can the Journal provide sat nav so I can get out of IKEA?

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Feb 19th 2013, 2:01 AM

    Maybe those two brothers in the article put the Ikea ads up to distract everyone from what their brother was doing?

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Feb 19th 2013, 2:12 AM

    Ah there you are, Declan. I was expecting you to pop up on the Chavez thread and badmouth the revolutionary leader as usual!

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Feb 19th 2013, 3:27 AM

    Petr, did you miss me? Btw I hear that Chavez is looking for improved relations with the US. Has he sensed his own mortality?

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Feb 19th 2013, 3:30 AM

    And petr don’t forget it’s Chavez who got up in front of the world at the UN and bad mouthed the US. He has no problem selling his countries oil to the US and taking the dollars to fund his revolution.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Feb 19th 2013, 3:47 AM

    Of course. Chavez has no quarrel with American people. After Katrina, when Bush left his citizens to rot, Chavez offered aid. His problem is with American imperialism. Also, he has always wanted good relations with the US. The problem has been the US wants subordinates, not trading partners, and Chavez doesn’t do that.

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Feb 19th 2013, 4:23 AM

    Petr, New Orleans and hurricane Katrina was not as simple as that! It was a disaster waiting to happen for a long time. It was a screw up among a lot of people. Every city and every state has to have a disaster plan in place. People in New Orleans ignored the warnings.
    Btw, do you know how much help the US gave after the tsunami in the pacific in December 2004? The earthquake in haiti? it reached out and offered help to Iran after they had a major earthquake some years back. The US has and does respond with help in disasters worldwide.
    Did you know that the US is the largest giver of food aid to North Korea?
    Back in the nineties the US bailed out Mexico with $30 billion. It did the same with Russia. It even sent food aid to the Russians during the Cold War because the soviets couldn’t feed themselves.
    Go look it up under US foreign aid internationally. It dwarfs anything any other country gives.
    You have a blinkered view of the US.
    I’m dealing with facts here.

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Feb 19th 2013, 4:30 AM

    Also you mention “subordinates and not trading partners”?! Do you not know how trade between china and the US is in Chinas favor? The growth and progress that China has gone through is because the American consumer has been buying Chinese made products. The Chinese economy would be nowhere near as big as it is now without the American market.
    President Obama has been criticized for being weak with the Chinese.

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    Mute B Lowe
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    Feb 19th 2013, 7:14 AM

    Declan,
    Did you know that the US has contributed nothing to Yougaslavia after they bombed it into the Stone Age. They have stopped offering financial reconstruction to Iraq after they bombed it into the Stone Age. The US is getting reparations from Vietnam still yet the US is not providing any reparations to Iraq. The US invaded Iraq illegally for no reason , it should be called the Bush War not the Iraq war, Iraq did nothing.

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    Mute Simon Power
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    Feb 19th 2013, 8:02 AM

    FACT CHECK NEEDED THERE!

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Feb 19th 2013, 2:31 PM

    B Lowe, you are wrong! The American tax payer is fed up with the billions that has been spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. Money spent on projects to help rebuild those countries. Look it up.
    You are wrong with what you say.
    With regards to Yugoslavia, you cannot blame the US for all the destruction that happened. 200,000 killed in that conflict and the US moved in after to stop anymore killing. The damage was already done.
    b Lowe you really need to take a reality check on all that you say.

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Feb 19th 2013, 2:35 PM

    And b Lowe, how old are you. Did you not know how how the Serbs laid siege to a city for two years. How the beautiful city of Dubrovnik was destroyed and since has been rebuilt.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Feb 19th 2013, 2:53 PM

    Declan — You are extremely naive about the nature of the US ruling class. They don’t invade other countries to ‘save them’, they do it because it’s in the grubby, narrow interests of the US ruling class, not the mass of the American people.

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    Mute Muriel Gowing
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    Feb 19th 2013, 8:04 AM

    Danish brothers? Surely you mean Somali brothers living in Denmark.

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    Mute Dodge Challenger
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    Feb 19th 2013, 8:18 AM

    I was just about to say the same exact thing.

    Danes typically aren’t the type of people that develop terror plots, I knew the headline wasn’t revealing the full truth!

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    Mute My Anarchic Trek
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    Feb 19th 2013, 10:55 AM

    That’s your wonderful ‘multiculturalism’ at work for you.
    This sitaution with islam is going to get much worse, mark my words.

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    Mute David Harte
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    Feb 19th 2013, 1:36 AM

    Im getting both.

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