POLITICO: Up to 150 experts in Brussels and Seville will be checking whether Musk’s livestream interview boosts the German far right.
BRUSSELS — When tech tycoon Elon Musk interviews German far-right leader Alice Weidel on X on Thursday night, Europe’s powerful tech regulators will be watching closely for possible violations of EU law.
They’ll be less concerned with the banter than with how the Musk-owned platform and algorithm pushes the livestream to its more than 100 million EU users. In particular, they’ll be evaluating whether X gives an unfair campaign advantage to Weidel's Alternative for Germany (AfD) party over its rivals.
Musk’s online interview comes just weeks before Germany’s Feb. 23 general election, with the anti-immigration AfD currently polling second. Musk recently praised the group as the “last spark of hope” for Germany, drawing widespread accusations of election interference.
A team of up to 150 European Commission officials in Brussels and Seville will help scrutinize whether Musk’s social media site plays by the European Union’s tech rules. They wield far-reaching investigative powers that allow them to visit X’s offices and request access to its algorithm and internal correspondence. » | Pieter Haeck | Thursday, January 9, 2025
