A leading US Congressman has accused the European Union’s self-styled digital enforcer, Thierry Breton, of failing to alleviate the concerns held by US lawmakers that the EU “may attempt to censor or suppress lawful speech in the United States.”
Last month Rep Jim Jordan objected when Breton threatened Elon Musk over an interview on X with President Trump.
Now Jordan, chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, says Breton has sent an “inaccurate” letter to his committee in an attempt to deny he was threatening to force Musk into censoring content.
Your response… failed to alleviate our concerns that you may attempt to censor or suppress lawful speech in the United States using the European Union’s Digital Services Act
In correspondence seen exclusively by Brussels Signal, Breton attempts to justify his decision to issue Musk and his X platform with a public warning. Breton insisted Musk must act in line with EU law, or face the possibility of sanctions under the Digital Services Act. However, in the letter, Breton insisted this was not designed to push Musk into censorship.
Jordan rejected this. In the latest exchange, he wrote back to Breton: “The only logical inference from your actions is that your letter was intended as a threat to Musk that the EU would, as you warned, ‘make full use of [its] toolbox’ if he facilitated political speech with which you disagreed.”
Breton claimed that the EU was pro-freedom of speech, and that his threats against Musk were merely a “reminder” to make sure illegal content and so-called “disinformation” was controlled and culled on the X during the interview with President Trump: “We take no view on the context of the interview and the political views of the protagonists of that interview are of no relevance in our decision to send that letter.”
Jordan replied to Breton on September 10 and accused the European Commissioner of being “inaccurate” in his writings. The Congressman wrote, “We received your response to our August 15 letter about your threats of reprisal toward Elon Musk, an American citizen, and X Corp., an American company, for facilitating political discourse in the United States.”
“Your response, however, failed to alleviate our concerns that you may attempt to censor or suppress lawful speech in the United States using the European Union’s Digital Services Act.”
Jordan blasted Breton’s claim that the EU’s censorship demands were compatible with freedom of speech, arguing that the Commission’s demands that so-called “disinformation” be controlled violated such values.
“First, your claim that ‘the DSA does not regulate content’ is contradicted by the text of the DSA and by your own actions,” the committee chair wrote.
“As demonstrated by your letter, EU officials are not above factual mistakes and misunderstandings. Dissenting voices matter because the ‘expert consensus’ is often wrong, as shown most recently by the devastating consequences of the government-imposed lockdowns.”
“The DSA, as you admit in your letter, requires ‘Very Large Online Platforms’ (VLOPs), such as X, Facebook, and YouTube, to take ‘mitigation measures’ against alleged ‘disinformation’.”
“The DSA defines ‘disinformation’ as a type of ‘content’, and because the DSA regulates disinformation, the DSA—contrary to your claims otherwise—regulates content. In fact, in your threat letter to Elon Musk, you made clear that the DSA obligates X to censor allegedly ‘harmful content’—i.e., content disfavored by the EU.”
[Y]our assertion that you would “never interfere in the American democratic process” is contradicted by your actions
Jordan also called into question Breton’s claim that he would have sent any tech giant owner or CEO a similar letter to the one he sent Musk in the case of a “scale-up” event.
“[Y]our assertion that you would “never interfere in the American democratic process” is contradicted by your actions,” the congressman wrote.
“You claim that you ‘decided to write to Mr. Musk to ensure that X’s trust and safety systems function properly to cope with a likely spike of online activity which could amplify dissemination in the EU of posts by users potentially containing illegal content, disinformation, or posts which run counter to the terms and conditions of the platform.”
“However, to the best of our knowledge, you have not sent a similar unsolicited letter concerning ‘a likely spike in online activity’ for any other American political discourse that has been broadcast live on X and that could be alleged to include purported ‘disinformation’ or ‘harmful content.'”
Please have your staff prepared to provide additional information… any communications the European Commission has had with the Biden-Harris Administration to use EU law as a way to bypass the First Amendment
“If you have sent such an unsolicited letter, you certainly did not do so in such a public manner as you did with your letter to Musk.”
“The only logical inference from your actions is that your letter was intended as a threat to Musk that the EU would, as you warned, ‘make full use of [its] toolbox’ if he facilitated political speech with which you disagreed.”
“As demonstrated by your letter, EU officials are not above factual mistakes and misunderstandings. Dissenting voices matter because the ‘expert consensus’ is often wrong, as shown most recently by the devastating consequences of the government-imposed lockdowns.”
The committee chairman concluded by accepting Breton’s offer of an EU staff briefing.
“As noted in our first letter, please have your staff prepared to provide additional information on (1) the European Commission’s efforts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce Elon Musk or X Corp. in connection with Mr. Musk’s interview of President Donald Trump; (2) efforts by the European Commission to use EU law to force American companies to censor American speech; and (3) any communications the European Commission has had with the Biden-Harris Administration to use EU law as a way to bypass the First Amendment,” Jordan added.
He went on to request that such a briefing be held “as soon as possible but no later than 10:00 a.m. ET on September 24, 2024.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is to promote Brussels’ “digital enforcer” Thierry Breton to the position of EC executive vice-president, the German media claimed a leak has shown. https://t.co/BU2VVLqa0y
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 3, 2024
