Former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton has decried recent allegations of censorship within the European Union as just a “buzzword” pushed by “conspiracy theorists”.
Breton, who served as the Commissioner for the Internal Market from 2019 until 2024, ridiculed suggestions the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) could be considered an attempt at censoring people.
“‘Censorship’ is the new buzzword of Tech Bros and other conspiracy theorists when it comes to respecting laws in Europe,” Breton posted on January 14.
La “censure”, c’est le nouveau buzzword des Tech Bros et autres complotistes dès lors que l’on parle de respect des lois en Europe.
Au contraire, le #DSA c’est le respect du pluralisme et de la liberté d’expression.
Interview @OuestFrance pic.twitter.com/aNrxTPHrNI
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) January 14, 2025
“On the contrary, DSA is about respecting pluralism and freedom of expression,” he said.
Breton also posted the complete text of his interview on the subject with Ouest France—currently paywalled on its website.
In the interview, he adds while he does not consider Elon Musk’s comments on European politics interference “strictly speaking”, he warns the bloc will continue to crack down on American tech companies refusing to implement Brussels’ rules on speech.
He also claims the EU’s rules respect freedom of speech, but freedom of speech is subject to “constraints”, and that it is “forbidden” to make “racist” and “defamatory remarks” in Europe.
“This is nothing new, the law in Europe has always imposed framed limits that are related to our values,” he claims.
“We did not wait for the DSA to sanction defamatory remarks,” he said.
“Saying that we are censoring is huge fake news,” he adds.
Just over a month after stepping down from his position, the EU’s former Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton has defended the bloc’s regulation of online platforms, including X, stating that it “saves democracy.” https://t.co/gFbj4UB2l6
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) October 22, 2024
Breton’s outburst received some online derision, with X owner Elon Musk chiming in with a single word response of “groan”.
It is not the first time the internet has mocked Breton.
The former EU commissioner has received US ridicule since threatening to censor Musk and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in the run-up to American elections.
He has since been blasted for suggesting Romania was justified in annulling its presidential election due to alleged Russian interference.
He added “we” Europeans should be willing to do something similar in Germany if similar interference occurs.
His comments prompted claims the EU was behind the cancellation of the elections, though Breton later came out to denounce such an interpretation.
“[T]he EU has NO (sic) mechanism to nullify any election anywhere in EU,” he wrote in response to a post by Musk calling him a “tyrant” for the comments.
He suggested that his comments, originally made in French, had either been “lost in translation” or the subject of intentional “fake news”.
Piotr Bujak, mayor of southern Poland’s town of Głogówek, has offered his city’s medieval castle as a potential site for Elon Musk’s European headquarters. https://t.co/yVaVOM1doL
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 14, 2025
