EU commissioner labels Musk ‘promoter of evil’

The European bloc’s transparency chief has accused the X CEO of failing to tackle antisemitism

X CEO Elon Musk is unable to “recognize good and evil,” said outgoing EU commissioner for values and transparency, Vera Jourova, accusing the tech billionaire of failing to curb antisemitism on his platform. 

“We started to relativize evil, and he’s helping it proactively. He’s the promoter of evil,” Jourova told Politico magazine in an interview published on Wednesday, arguing that X has become “the main hub for spreading antisemitism.” 

Jourova has never met Musk in person. She argued, nevertheless, that “even without this personal meeting, I would say that out of all the bosses I met, he is the only one who is not able to recognize good and evil.” 

The official added that she was “really scared by digital platforms in bad hands,” and that “we have to be sure that the innovations are developed to do good to people.” She further argued that Musk’s platform failed to take “sufficient action” to tackle antisemitism.

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Musk hit back at Jourova on X, saying “if she wants to know what evil looks like, she just needs a mirror.” 

In 2022, the EU adopted the Digital Services Act (DSA), which allows officials to fine online platforms as much as 6% of their yearly global revenue for failing to remove illegal content and disinformation or respect transparency regulations. In its preliminary findings released in July, the EU accused X of violating the DSA in “areas linked to dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers.” 

After finalizing the purchase of Twitter in the fall of 2022, Musk promised to rebrand the platform as a more transparent space that is devoted to free speech and is free of censorship. He pledged to combat hate speech and paid a trip to Auschwitz, the site of a former Nazi death camp in Poland, in January. 

X has “the least amount of antisemitism” compared to other platforms, Musk argued, adding that “it’s never going to be zero if you’ve got 600 million people on the platform.” 

Musk also has accused the European Commission of wanting to make him sign “an illegal secret deal” while seeking to quietly censor speech on X.