Thierry Breton, the European Union’s former digital policy chief, has said that the bloc’s sweeping disinformation law could ban X if the social media platform fails to comply with its terms.
Social Media Platform X
“From the moment it is broadcast in Europe on a regulated platform, it must follow European rules,” Breton said.“With the AfD, these rules must be followed. It is clear, and I am certain, that we will take all necessary measures to ensure that the law is respected. If it is not respected, there are fines and the possibility of a ban. We are equipped, and these laws must be enforced to protect our democracies in Europe.”
When pressed if this meant a full-on ban of X, he told RMC that the “law is here, it’s not the law of Thierry Breton, even though it was my team that wrote it.”
Romania
Breton also mentioned Romania, whose top court annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election, which was won by a populist, Calin Georgescu, who campaigned largely on TikTok.EU officials issued a “retention order” under the DSA after declassified documents showed Georgescu had been promoted on TikTok through a series of coordinated accounts, recommendation algorithms, and paid promotion.
“Let’s keep our composure and enforce our laws in Europe when they risk being circumvented and, if not enforced, could lead to interference. We did it in Romania, and we will obviously have to do it in Germany if necessary,” Breton said.
On Jan. 9, the publication Politico reported that a team of up to 150 European Commission officials in Brussels and Seville could potentially be watching the Elon Musk/Alice Weidel interview closely for “possible violations of EU law.”
Enforcers of the DSA include the commission’s DG CONNECT tech department and experts from the European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency in Spain.
The Epoch Times contacted the European Commission to confirm if 150 officials would be watching the interview. When pressed, a European Commission spokeswoman said by email, “The Commission is monitoring developments, including this one.”
The commission opened formal proceedings in December 2024 to assess whether X may have breached the DSA.
AfD
According to a poll by INSA posted on Jan. 6, the Christian Democrats are leading with 31 percent of the vote, followed by AfD with 21.5 percent. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party SPD is polling at 15.5 percent.The AfD’s platform includes strict border controls, opposition to climate action agendas, and criticism of EU integration, alongside calls for preserving traditional German culture and rejecting the notion that Islam is part of Germany.
Domestic security services have treated the AfD as a potentially extremist party since 2021, granting security services the right to keep it under surveillance.
However, the party denies that it is extremist.
