Fact-check: EU has not said it wants to ban X over Musk interference

Euroverify breaks down what we know about the EU’s response to the tech billionaire’s intrusion into European politics.

Transcript

00:00Does the European Union really want to ban X?

00:07We fact-checked claims that EU officials are looking to ban

00:11X after its owner Elon Musk waded into European domestic politics.

00:16We concluded that the claims are unfounded. Here's why.

00:30French far-right leader Jordan Bardella says the EU is unhappy with how Musk is using X

00:36to promote certain electoral candidates. Musk recently endorsed the far-right

00:41alternative for Germany party and interviewed its leader Alice Weidel live on X ahead of

00:48February's German election. Here's what the commission had to say about that live stream.

00:53Nothing in the DSA prohibits such a live stream. What we want, however,

00:57is that the owner of the platform or the platform or the provider of the platform make sure

01:02that the platform is not misused or giving a preferential treatment to certain types of

01:07content or an increased visibility to just one type of content. The executive suggests

01:12Musk's endorsement and promotion of AFD is legal as long as he is respecting EU rules on the way

01:19algorithms are used to boost content across his platform. Those rules are defined in the EU's

01:25digital rulebook, known as the Digital Services Act or DSA. A platform with more than 45 million

01:33monthly users in the EU, such as X, that seriously breaches DSA rules could be fined up to 6% of its

01:41annual turnover. As a last resort, platforms could also face temporary suspensions. But no EU official

01:49has yet called for such a ban and there is no suggestion that such a ban is under consideration

01:54as Bardella implies.