Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-001750/2024/rev.1
to the Commission
Rule 144
Kosma Złotowski (ECR), Piotr Müller (ECR), Bogdan Rzońca (ECR), Anna Zalewska (ECR), Dominik Tarczyński (ECR), Aurelijus Veryga (ECR), Adrian-George Axinia (ECR), Ivaylo Valchev (ECR), Arkadiusz Mularczyk (ECR), Michał Dworczyk (ECR), Fernand Kartheiser (ECR), Nicolas Bay (ECR), Tobiasz Bocheński (ECR), Jadwiga Wiśniewska (ECR), Ondřej Krutílek (ECR), Gheorghe Piperea (ECR), Charlie Weimers (ECR), Beatrice Timgren (ECR), Dick Erixon (ECR), Laurence Trochu (ECR), Sebastian Tynkkynen (ECR), Marlena Maląg (ECR), Marion Maréchal (ECR), Waldemar Buda (ECR), Carlo Fidanza (ECR)
In the light of the recent letter from EU Commissioner Thierry Breton to Elon Musk, in which the Commissioner exerts direct pressure on X (formerly Twitter) to ensure stricter content moderation under the pretext of managing harmful content, and considering the statement by Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, who revealed instances of formal and informal coercion by public authorities to demote or remove specific content:
- 1.Can the Commission confirm whether Commissioner Breton or any other Commission officials have, at any point, used their political or administrative positions to exert pressure – whether formally or informally – on major social media platforms to enforce specific content moderation actions, even when those actions contradicted the platforms’ own assessments or policies?
- 2.During negotiations of codes of conduct, or discussions related to best practices under the Digital Services Act (DSA)[1], have Commission officials, including Commissioner Breton, pushed for specific content moderation standards or practices that platforms found contentious or excessive, and, if so, were these requests consistent with the principles of free speech and transparency that the Commission publicly upholds?
- 3.Does the Commission maintain records of all communications regarding content moderation discussions with social media platforms?
Submitted: 18.9.2024
- [1] Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC, http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2065/oj.