EU delays Elon Musk's X probe during US trade talks
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The European Commission has paused its investigation into X under the Digital Services Act, as Brussels navigates complex EU-US trade negotiations.
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Elon Musk, who owns Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX, speaks at the Vivatech fair, Friday, June 16, 2023, in Paris. (AP)
The European Commission has temporarily paused one of its investigations into Elon Musk’s X over alleged violations of the bloc’s digital transparency rules, as it focuses on finalizing trade negotiations with the US.
Brussels had been expected to conclude its investigation into the social media platform before the EU’s summer recess, but according to three officials familiar with the matter, the deadline will now be missed, with a decision likely to come only after greater clarity emerges in the ongoing EU-US trade negotiations, as one of the officials added, "It’s all tied up."
The EU is conducting multiple investigations into X under the bloc's Digital Services Act, a regulatory framework designed to compel major online platforms to enforce stricter content moderation and oversight.
The regulations have intensified tensions between Brussels and major US tech companies, which, supported by Donald Trump's administration, argue that the EU is disproportionately focusing on American firms and undermining free speech values promoted by the MAGA movement
US-EU talks affect all decisions regarding Washington
The European Commission, responsible for managing EU trade policy, has been engaged in negotiations to finalize a trade agreement with the US since April, when the US president initially imposed 20% reciprocal tariffs on the bloc and announced the trade measures.
The tariffs were initially reduced to 10 percent to create space for negotiations, before Trump announced over the weekend that he would impose 30 percent tariffs starting August 1.
Brussels officials told the Financial Times that the ongoing negotiations have made all US-related decisions especially politically delicate, as there is reluctance to provoke Trump and risk intensifying transatlantic trade tensions.
Although Trump and Musk's political alliance during the 2024 election campaign has since soured this year, the former US president has openly criticized EU sanctions against American companies, denouncing them as a "form of taxation" and equating tech giant fines with "overseas extortion," according to his public statements.
US negotiations don't affect the X investigation
Despite facing pressure from the US, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has firmly declared that Brussels will not alter its digital regulations, as the EU levied combined fines totaling €700 million against Apple and Meta, Facebook's parent company, in April for violating antitrust rules.
Unlike the Apple and Meta cases, which are governed by the Digital Markets Act's strict timelines, investigations under the Digital Services Act face no fixed legal deadlines, giving the EU greater flexibility in timing its formal decisions while also conducting separate content moderation probes into Meta and TikTok under the same regulatory framework.
The commission said the “proceedings against X under the DSA are ongoing," adding that the enforcement of “our legislation is independent of the current ongoing negotiations."
In addition to investigating X's transparency violations, Brussels is also examining the platform's content moderation practices following Elon Musk's hosting of Alice Weidel, leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, for a discussion on X ahead of Germany's elections.
