Digital Commissioner Virkkunen emphasizes that the EU Commission is looking for evidence of algorithm manipulation.
BRUSSELS MEPs consider the Commission’s actions in reining in the digital giants to be slow and toothless.
The left-wing and green MEPs in particular criticized the commissioner responsible for technology Henna Virkkunen silence.
– Where are the actions that will stop the abuses of the digital oligarchs. It is unacceptable that the Commission remains silent and does not respond to these threats. Inaction is not neutrality, the chairman of the Social Democrats group Iratxe García Pérez asked.
According to him Elon Musk has turned the X message service he owns into a mouthpiece for the extreme right.
MEPs discussed the supervision of digital giants in a plenary session in Strasbourg.
EU MEPs are worried about Musk’s efforts to influence European politics, especially the German elections in February.
Musk visibly supports Germany’s partially far-right AfD party.
At the same time, he has appointed, for example, the current Chancellor of Germany Olof Scholz as a fool and demanded his resignation.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also had his share of barking.
The Commission asked for more information about the algorithms
Last Friday, Virkkunen announced that the commission would ask X for more information about the algorithms. X has been under investigation by the Commission since the end of 2023 for, among other things, the distribution of illegal content.
The supervision of large technology companies belongs to the Commission and there to Virkkunen’s plot.
According to García Pérez of the Social Democrats, it is good that the commission decided to request more information about Meta and X in order to move forward with the investigations. However, he expects more.
– The EU must show leadership, that’s what the citizens expect. Simply enacting laws is not enough, but compliance with the laws must be ensured.
The greens Alexandra Geese stated that techno-oligarchs are hurting democracy.
– Elon Musk interferes in the elections in the United States and Europe by increasing the visibility of his own account and the accounts of the extreme right.
Techno-oligarchs are favored by Trump
According to Geese, Virkkunen must be able to dig up evidence of Musk’s algorithm manipulation.
X is suspected of adjusting the platform’s recommendation features, i.e. algorithms, so that, for example, the views of the AfD and other far-right politicians become more visible than other parties.
This would be against the EU’s digital regulatory regulation.
– Yesterday we saw the techno-oligarchs standing behind President Trump. They have immense power, wealth, they can control information and networks, use artificial intelligence and they don’t want to respect the rules.
– They will never respect us if we don’t defend ourselves against them.
Virkkunen emphasized that the implementation of the digital regulatory regulation in companies requires careful detective work by expert teams. Evidence must be decent and also valid in court.
The Commission has requested internal documents from X about the recommendation systems and its possible changes. The work is done with him to the fullest.
The French minister threatened to transfer the matter to the member states
Last week 38 mepps sent a letter to Virkkusen in which they demanded more effective measures against X and Musk’s mud campaign.
The letter was also received by the chairman of the commission Ursula von der Leyen and the commissioner responsible for democratic development Michael McGrath.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot demanded previously from the Commission tougher actions permitted by law. If that doesn’t happen, according to him, we should consider giving digital regulation to the member countries themselves.
The EU’s digital services regulation entered into force in its entirety in February of last year. If the regulations are not followed, the threat is to lose six percent of the turnover or even ban the operation.
Musk has accused the regulation of censorship. The far-right MEPs are of the same opinion. They demand changes to the regulation.