"I was wondering if the letter has been agreed or coordinated with President von der Leyen and if so if you were aware of this letter sent before a couple of hours before the live event?" a reporter asked.
"Thank you Valentina," an EU commission spokeswoman said. "What the commissioner has represented in the letter is a general concern as I was saying, by pointing out the rules that have to be complied with by very large platforms under the European Digitial Services Act. For what concerns the letter specifically, the timing and the wording of the letter, were neither coordinated nor agreed with the president nor with the college of the commission."
This clarification follows Breton's Monday letter which attempted to warn Musk against the planned interview he had scheduled on X Spaces with the current presidential candidate Trump. The two had a wide-ranging discussion on everything from artificial intelligence to energy to the US economy.
Breton's letter sought to remind Musk of his EU-regulated responsibility to prevent "harmful content" from spreading on the platform. In defense of his warning, Breton cited recent civil unrest in England which erupted after three school girls were stabbed by the son of Rwandan immigrants. This led to rioting among the English who protested against lenient migration policies in the nation.
"I am compelled to remind you of the due diligence obligations set out in the Digital Services Act (DSA)," Breton said, "as outlined in my previous letter. As the individual entity ultimately controlling a platform with over 300 million users worldwide, of which one third in the EU, that has been designated as a Very Large Online Platform, you have the legal obligation to ensure X's compliance with EU law and in particular the DSA in the EU."
"This notably means ensuring, on one hand, that freedom of expression and of information, including media freedom and pluralism, are effectively protected and, on the other hand, that all proportionate and effective mitigation measures are put in place regarding the amplification of harmful content in connection with relevant events, including live streaming, which, if unaddressed, might increase the risk profile of X and generate detrimental effects on civic discourse and public security," said Breton.
An EU official who spoke to the Financial Times said "Thierry has his own mind and way of working and thinking."
Musk responded to the letter, as did X CEO Linda Yaccarino. Musk jokingly said "To be honest, I really wanted to respond with this Tropic Thunder meme, but I would NEVER do something so rude & irresponsible!"
Yaccarino said "This is an unprecedented attempt to stretch a law intended to apply in Europe to political activities in the US. It also patronizes European citizens, suggesting they are incapable of listening to a conversation and drawing their own conclusions."
Musk extended an invitation to Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris, as well, who has not yet responded to that ask.
