Elon Musk's plan to host a chat with the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on his social media platform X has angered European politicians, but they will struggle to stop it.
The tech billionaire is scheduled to talk on Thursday with Alice Weidel, head of the AfD, a far-right party in Germany. He currently ranks second in the poll ahead of the February 23 general election on a platform that includes, among other things, “defending free speech,” tightening asylum rules, ending financial support for asylum seekers and repealing planned restrictions on internal combustion engine cars.
Despite the party being labeled a “suspected extremist organization” by Germany's national intelligence services – something it tried to fight in court – Musk in December said that “only the AfD can save Germany” and published an opinion piece supporting the party in a German newspaper.
“Don't feed the troll,” outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told a German weekly Stern asked about Musk's attack on himself and other politicians in the country, while German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, in an interview with him, called Musk's interference “intrusive and pretentious” Funke media group.
The outrage crossed borders, with French President Emmanuel Macron also criticizing Musk and former European Commissioner Thierry Breton, saying the interview would give Weidel a “significant and valuable advantage.”
But the livestream wouldn't break any law if the content of the interview was legal, Matthew Holman, a technology, privacy and artificial intelligence partner at law firm Cripps, told CNBC in emailed comments, noting that it's “an important part of expressing free speech in a healthy democratic system.”
“However, if this was the only interview Musk conducted with German parties at the time, not giving equal weight to all mainstream views or promoting one party in a polarizing way, it could be that lawmakers perceive X and Musk as a negative influence on civil discourse and the process elections in Germany only by interviewing the AfD or the lack of an effective, external, real-time moderator,” Holman added.
CNBC has reached out to X for comment.
The EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) – a wide-ranging piece of legislation aimed at regulating content on large online platforms, including X – states that platforms are responsible for assessing and mitigating risks to, among other things, civil discourse and electoral deliberation.
European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said in emailed comments that this included “an obligation to analyze and mitigate risks arising from preferential treatment or visibility of content on a given platform, including Mr Musk's content on his own platform.”
He added that the Commission would organize a roundtable on January 24 to discuss risks ahead of the German elections, and would be joined by the German Coordination of Digital Services and very large online platforms, including X.
While there are currently only a few reports of the X algorithm pushing content from the AfD, there are many accounts of Musk's own posts being favored, according to Simone Ruf, deputy head of the User Rights Center at the Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte, a German organization supporting basic and human rights, as reported to CNBC via email.
“If he uses this treatment to support the AfD through political statements and live broadcasts featuring its candidate, it could easily violate the DSA,” she said.
Ruf also pointed out that the European Commission is already seeking information from X limits resources for content moderationmay order interim measures to prevent harm to users. “This could potentially include disabling the X recommendation algorithm until after the federal election,” she suggested.
However, it is not clear whether proposals for such measures will succeed and how they might work in practice.
Meanwhile, German civil society initiative LobbyControl claims the interview could even be seen as an illegal donation to the party. The group notes that Musk has clearly stated that his goal is to strengthen the AfD and is using his platform's resources to do so, with the interview likely to be played more widely than content from regular X users.
“That's why we can actually talk about political advertising in this case, because Platform X usually sells this kind of coverage for a lot of money,” the group said in a speech statement– according to a CNBC translation. Election promotion through third parties is legally viewed as a donation and donations from non-EU countries are prohibited, as flagged by LobbyControl.
This is not the first time Musk has supported right-wing parties and figures in Europe. Until recentlyhe supported Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform party in Great Britain. He also founded a tirade against the current UK governmentled by Keir Starmer of the Labor Party, asking whether “America should 'liberate the British people'.”