EU’s Breton reminds Musk of legal obligations ahead of Trump interview

The EU’s internal market chief Thierry Breton has urged X owner Elon Musk to comply with legal obligations under the EU’s digital rulebook hours before the billionaire interviewed US Republican candidate Donald Trump live on his platform.

In the letter, published on X, Breton says that Musk has a “legal obligation” to ensure that “all proportionate and effective mitigation measures are put in place regarding the amplification of harmful content in connection with relevant events, including live streaming.”

Failure to put such measures in place could "increase the risk profile of X and generate detrimental effects on civic discourse and public security," Breton added.

The conversation between Musk and Trump was streamed live from Trump’s X channel at 08.00 ET on Monday (01.00 CET on Tuesday). 

The Republican candidate aiming to return to the White House in November's US Presidential election made a return to X earlier on Monday. His account was restored following Musk's acquisition of the platform in 2022, a year after the former US president was banned for inciting the 2021 Capitol attacks.

Musk has been in the EU's crosshairs since his takeover of X, formerly Twitter. The bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA) classifies X and 19 other platforms as 'very large' online platforms or search engines, requiring them to comply with the most stringent of the EU's digital regulations.

It has led to tensions between the US billionaire and the EU's internal market chief Breton, who has been nominated by French President Emmanuel Macron to serve a second term in Brussels.

Musk announced he was suing the European Commission in July after the EU executive accused him of breaching the DSA through a lack of transparency in the so-called 'blue