Europe: how to deal with Musk's meddling?
Elon Musk, Big Tech billionaire and future head of the US Department of Government Efficiency, is increasingly interfering in European politics. Only weeks before the German parliamentary elections he has endorsed the AfD and called Chancellor Olaf Scholz an "incompetent fool". He also accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failing to properly investigate an abuse scandal when the latter was the UK's Director of Public Prosecutions.
Take this seriously
Democracies must protect themselves from undue influence, writes the Irish Independent:
“Musk has a habit of retreating in the face of pushback. He railed against the Brazilian supreme court's ban on X for breaching a ban on disinformation then quietly paid the fine to have it lifted. ... Elected governments are not powerless. They can enact political finance laws to prevent foreign influence. They can mothball official government accounts on X. They can stop giving public contracts to Musk's companies. Musk's election interference is a serious threat and it must be tackled equally seriously.”
A tactful approach needed
Journalist Ovidiu Nahoi comments in RFI România:
“The problem is that harsh sanctions could put the Europeans directly at odds with the White House, given that Musk will be part of the US administration less than two weeks from now. ... The EU should nevertheless enforce its laws, while trying to minimise friction with Trump. It should also oblige X and other platforms to remove misleading or hateful accounts and enforce transparency in advertising. ... At the same time, it should make clear that its goal is not to attack Musk or US companies specifically but to protect elections and the integrity of information, regardless of which platform they come from.”
The continent must put a stop to this
Eesti Päevaleht stresses that different communication styles cannot justify this interference:
“Elon Musk expresses himself with Trump-like directness and without beating around the bush. He seems to care little for political correctness. However, things have got a little out of hand because his attacks on European countries and politicians are becoming personal. You don't do that in Europe. ... No businessman, especially one from the US, should have the right to interfere in any way in the politics of European countries. Only Europe itself can save us, and it is Europe that we are waiting for to enact regulations and laws to prosecute the abuse of social media.”
Countering tirades with facts
Starmer did the right thing in taking the bull by the horns at a press conference on Monday, The Independent finds:
“The prime minister was right to take the inaccurate charges against him head on: to break them down into their constituent parts and rebut them patiently and factually. Thus, Starmer defended his role as as the head of Crown Prosecution Services, in which, far from 'covering up' Muslim rape gangs, he led the way in rooting them out – working, as he pointed out, with a Conservative attorney general for three of his five years. ... Musk's shock-jock tactics are going to gain headlines whether Starmer responds to them or not, so the prime minister might as well seek to set out the facts.”
Now we see what journalism means
The contrast between influencing and journalistic work is becoming clearer, writes the Aargauer Zeitung:
“The reorientation of Facebook and X is an opportunity for the journalistic media. Their indispensability is becoming clearer once more. They are produced by professionals who are not anonymous but identifiable; in regional journalism in particular they are often well known. They are committed to the truth and work according to qualitative and ethical standards. If mistakes are made, they are corrected and there is the possibility of taking legal action against the respective outlet. Journalistic media are far from perfect. But the idea that they will one day be rendered superfluous by Facebook and the like is proving to be no more than a pipe dream.”