Commissioner Breton’s stance on freedom of expression

Question for written answer E-001542/2024
to the Commission
Rule 144
Marcin Sypniewski (ESN)

On 12 August 2024, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton published a letter addressed to Elon Musk on X. This was before Elon Musk's interview with Donald Trump. In the letter, the Commissioner expressed concern that the live interview could expose citizens of Member States to harmful content. From the content of the letter, one gets the impression that the Commissioner is calling for censorship of political content in particular. The Commissioner's conduct has already been condemned by the Committee on the Judiciary of the US Congress in a letter dated 15 August 2024. As a citizen of a country in which a criminal totalitarian regime imposed censorship and suppressed freedom of expression for several decades, I am disturbed by such words coming from a member of the European Commission. In this connection:

• 1.Is the position expressed by Commissioner Breton the official position of the Commission, or was the Commissioner merely writing in a personal capacity?
• 2.Does the Commission expect X and similar portals to censor all types of content, including interviews and live reports?
• 3.What form of interference with content does the Commission expect from X and similar portals in order for them to avoid the penalties mentioned by Commissioner Breton?

Submitted: 22.8.2024