More and more European governments are raising the alarm over fear that Elon Musk – and now also Mark Zuckerberg – will use their digital platforms for political purposes. Pedro Sánchez or Emmanuel Macron have asked Europe to react to this situation after the owner of Social Rights and Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy, to the European Commission, which he has asked to act to prevent Musk from continuing to “play Risk with European democracies.”
“I have had the opportunity to comment on the enormous concern we feel about the drift of instability that runs through European democracies, often associated with the fact that large social networks are becoming political weapons to destabilize European democracies and, on occasions, to serve openly to undemocratic political options,” Bustinduy told journalists in Brussels after meeting with several commissioners, including the new head of Justice, Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath.
“Europe’s digital sovereignty is as important as its territorial sovereignty and European democracy cannot be subordinated to the interests of any tycoon, be it Elon Musk, Zuckerberg, or any other large technology company. It is absolutely essential that Europe reacts to defend its institutions and its democracy,” added Bustinduy, who referred to the application of the digital services law (DSA) to put a stop to large platforms.
“We need to be able to apply the rules and regulations that we have and, therefore, it is essential that the files in progress see the light and come to an end,” he said in reference to the investigations that the European Commission has launched in the last in year that affect X, Meta or Tik Tok for failing to comply with the new EU digital rules on issues such as the fight against disinformation. The warning is not trivial at a time when Financial Times has published that Brussels is reviewing the procedures against X, Meta or Google with the intention of reducing their reach in the face of the pressure they are exerting taking advantage of the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House. The European Commission, however, denies that these procedures are being re-evaluated downwards and assures that it is continuing its technical process.
“What has been conveyed to me is that the European Commission takes this challenge very seriously and (…) that it will continue acting along these lines,” Bustinduy noted after their meetings. But it has demanded more political energy from the community government in line with what some capitals are emitting. “It is not enough to be scandalized, I think it is not enough to simply denounce these behaviors, we must react and I believe we must react by regulating our digital sphere,” he noted.
In addition to continuing with the procedures already open, Bustindy has recognized that the current digital regulation has “gaps” that he has asked to solve: “A whole series of practices have occurred, a series of practices have been normalized, also commercial practices, that exploit regulatory gaps or lack of capacity to carry out a enforcement of that regulation. And, therefore, we must continue working from public powers at all levels.”
“We are facing a great wake-up call for European democracies to react and take this problem seriously, because it cannot be that democracy in Europe is subject or subordinated to the interests of any large company or any tycoon,” he reiterated. the minister of Sumar, who has asked to strengthen the social pillar to “defend democracy”: “Only through the expansion of social rights and the shared prosperity of the welfare state will European democracies be able to face the great threats they face in this time of instability.”
Source: www.eldiario.es
