Elon Musk targeted by MEPs for his takeover of Twitter

RYAN LASH / AFP

Elon Musk’s ambitions for Twitter are pushing MEPs to hold him to account in the European Parliament.

TWITTER – It’s a takeover that makes the Old Continent cringe. Since his acquisition of the social network Twitter for the sum of 44 billion dollars, Elon Musk does not stop talking about him, multiplying the shock decisions and the exits on the future of “ the blue Bird under his leadership.

To the point of now being in the sights of MEPs this Tuesday, November 8. The Renew parliamentary group, the political formation of the European Parliament chaired by Stéphane Séjourné and to which the elected Macronists belong in particular, intends to hold him to account.

In a tweet, the one who is also secretary general of the Renaissance presidential majority party expressed Renew’s wish to audition the founder of Tesla and PayPal in the European Parliament. ” My group Renew Europe requests the hearing of Elon Musk in the European Parliament “, he wrote on Twitter.

” The bird may be free, but European values ​​and laws should still apply to Twitter! Elon Musk must be held accountable in the European Parliament. Today we asked Roberta Metsola (the President of the European Parliament, editor’s note) to invite Elon Musk to a hearing with MPs”adds in another tweet the parliamentary group Renew.

An official approach which is mainly explained by the various declarations of the powerful businessman with libertarian ambitions, who intends in particular to make Twitter a space of exchange where freedom of expression prevails over anything else and where moderation must be much less observant than in the past.

Dismissals in spades

A risky game for many observers, but this opinion also seems to be shared by the European political formation, as Stéphane Séjourné later expressed it: “ Whatever Mr Musk chooses, our motto will remain: our continent, our rules. We need to make sure Twitter will continue to take action against misinformation and hate speech. »

A last sentence that seems to echo Elon Musk’s speeches about Twitter certification. A thorny subject on which the new owner of the social network wants to make many changes to allow anyone to see their account certified against a monthly sum of money. A choice that divides and raises fears of a rise in power of disinformation on Twitter by allowing everyone to have the same (frontal) legitimacy as a media, a state organization or an international athlete for example .

In addition, the takeover of Twitter brought with it a wave of major layoffs for the Californian company. Following its acquisition of the social network, the South African entrepreneur has indeed proceeded to the dismissal of 50% of Twitter employees, who were simply notified the day before by letter.

Enough to encourage Paul Murphy, Irish Member of the European Parliament, to seek legal action against Elon Musk. He criticizes him in particular for his apparent failure to inform the Minister for Enterprise of its plans for major redundancies “. Indeed, Irish law requires that more than thirty dismissals in a thirty day period be notified in advance to the Irish government.

When Elon Musk evokes the idea of ​​paying for access to the social network in the near future, the official steps to hold accountable the sulphurous boss of SpaceX begin to multiply. Arm wrestling with justice that does not seem to frighten Elon Musk, very often singled out by the regulatory and supervisory bodies of the financial markets for his interventionism and his overflowing influence, in particular on the American stock market.

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