Musk vs the EU: Fact-checking the tech billionaire's X claims on Europe

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Musk vs the EU: Fact-checking the tech billionaire's X claims on Europe  Elon Musk made and reshared a series of misleading and sensationalised claims related to Europe on his X platform in the aftermath of a fine imposed on X by the European Commission for failing to comply with its transparency duties.   READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/12/11/musk-vs-the-eu-fact-checking-the-tech-billionaires-x-claims-on-europe  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00Fact-checking Elon Musk's tirade against Europe

00:03Tech billionaire Elon Musk launched a tirade of criticism against the European Union over the weekend.

00:14His comments follow a 120 million euro fine imposed on his ex-platform by the European Commission

00:20for allegedly violating its transparency obligations.

00:23Musk and US President Donald Trump have slammed the fine and questioned Europe's political direction in its aftermath.

00:31But diplomacy aside, Musk also re-shared a number of claims about Europe on Exo over the weekend

00:37that are misleading or lack credible evidence.

00:40Firstly, Musk re-shared a post condemning a Christmas market attack posted by British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

00:47According to Robinson, 10 people were killed in the incident, which he said was part of an Islamist plot.

00:53His claims are, however, false.

00:55Although a number of people were injured, no one was killed, and the attack was not linked to any terror motive.

01:02Musk also posted numerous claims that, after the fine,

01:05Ex jumped to the number one news app in every European country.

01:09App charts on both Apple and Google Play show that while Ex is number one in many European countries in the news category,

01:17it's not listed in charts for the most popular or most downloaded app in Europe.

01:21Longer-term research also indicates that when Europeans turn to social media for news,

01:26apps like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube rank higher.

01:30Finally, Musk shared posts suggesting that Europeans support re-migration,

01:34a concept that's broadly understood to involve the large-scale deportation of migrants.

01:39But public surveys show that support for removing migrants is generally limited to irregular migrants

01:45or those who have committed crimes.

01:47There is no public survey that suggests Europeans support mass expulsions of all citizens with a foreign background.

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