Twitter faces EU sanctions over Elon Musk’s activities

Elon Musk has been invited to testify in the European Parliament over his violent Twitter activity. On Monday, the President of the EU legislature, Roberta Mecola, sent a letter to the billionaire asking him to appear for a «frank public discussion» with European lawmakers.

The move follows a series of chaotic and controversial actions by the billionaire, including mass layoffs, blocking of journalists, and changes to the platform’s user policy. By the way, EU lawmakers do not have the legal authority to force Musk to speak at a meeting of the European Parliament.

«Twitter plays a key role in the democratic life of the European Union and provides opportunities for civil discourse,» Mecola said. «The platform should not unwittingly become a catalyst for hatred, disinformation and election interference.»

«Social networks cannot change their policies all the time,» said European Commissioner Thierry Breton on Monday, December 19. «I have instructed the European Commission teams to ensure that the EU content law and the Digital Services Act are implemented no later than September 1, 2023.»

The President of the European Parliament first agreed to invite Musk at the request of liberal lawmakers back in November. She expressed confidence that the owner of Tesla and SpaceX would accept the invitation. It is not yet clear whether the billionaire will visit Brussels. However, Musk has already received several hints from both his own subscribers and former associates that his performance as CEO of Twitter leaves much to be desired.

As a reminder, on November 30, European Commissioner Thierry Brenton held a video conference with Musk, in which he warned the entrepreneur that Twitter could be blocked in Europe, and the company would pay a fine of 6% of its annual revenue. Brenton issued a number of ultimatums to Musk, including the abandonment of the practice of chaotic reinstatement of previously banned users, aggressive censorship, and biased attitudes toward content.