Elon Musk issues a foul-mouthed retort to the European Union

Elon Musk issued a foul-mouthed retort to the European Union after a top Brussels official threatened action against his X social media site. The controversial billionaire, estimated to be the world's richest person, clashed with the bloc's digital chief Thierry Breton ahead of his interview with Donald Trump.

The clash came just hours before Mr Musk streamed his chat with Mr Trump on X, which followed the former US president rejoining the site once known as Twitter. In his letter to Mr Musk, Mr Breton issued a stern warning to the South African-born businessman ahead of his broadcast with the Republican presidential nominee.

The French politician, the EU commissioner for internal market, noted the conversation between Mr Musk and Mr Trump would be accessible to around 100 million X users in the EU. He pointed out, under EU laws, X is obliged to ensure 'all proportionate and effective mitigation measures are put in place regarding the amplification of harmful content'.

'This is important against the background of recent examples of public unrest brought about by the amplification of content that promotes hatred, disorder, incitement to violence, or certain instances of disinformation,' he added. Mr Breton made reference to the recent violent disorder in towns and cities across Britain in the wake of the Southport stabbing attack.

There are concerns the mayhem was partly whipped up on sites such as X, including due to the spread of online misinformation about the Southport suspect. Mr Musk recently engaged in a spat with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer amid the chaos on UK streets by claiming 'civil war is inevitable'. He used the hashtag #TwoTierKeir on his social media site, in reference to allegations of 'two tier policing' in Britain.

Mr Musk was also left red-faced as he pushed false claims about the PM setting up detainment camps in the Falkland Islands for rioters. In his letter ahead of the Trump interview, Mr Breton told Mr Musk: 'As the relevant content is accessible to EU users and being amplified also in our jurisdiction, we cannot exclude potential spillovers in the EU. 'Therefore, we are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political - or societal - events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections.

He warned that 'any negative effect of illegal content on X in the EU' which could be attributed to the 'ineffectiveness' of X's monitoring of content would form part of the EU's ongoing probe into whether the site complies with Brussels' rules. 'This is in line with what has already been done in the recent past, for example in relation to the repercussions and amplification of terrorist content or content that incites violence, hate and racism in the EU, such as in the context of the recent riots in the UK,' he added.

Mr Breton said he would 'not hesitate to make full use of our toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from serious harm'. It has previously been reported how, in a video meeting with Mr Musk in 2022, Mr Breton threatened to ban X unless it abides by strict rules on content moderation. In a response to Mr Breton's letter last night, which the EU official posted on X, Mr Musk wrote: 'To be honest, I really wanted to respond with this Tropic Thunder meme, but I would NEVER do something so rude & irresponsible!' He also shared the expletive-laden meme from the Tropic Thunder film.

Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive of X, said of Mr Breton's letter: 'This is an unprecedented attempt to stretch a law intended to apply in Europe to political activities in the US. It also patronises European citizens, suggesting they are incapable of listening to a conversation and drawing their own conclusions.' In his chat with Mr Trump on X, Mr Musk attempted to engage the former president in a discussion about 'censorship' of Americans 'from other countries'.

Mr Trump responded by claiming the EU is 'bad' on trade with the US and criticising NATO for not spending enough on defence. 'That's probably why they notified you,' he said. 'They don't treat our country well.' Mr Trump's X account had earlier posted a series of tweets for the first time in almost a year. He was previously suspended from the site in January 2021 in action the company said was 'due to the risk of further incitement of violence' from his account. It followed the storming of the US Capitol by the former president's supporters.

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