The \u20ac120 million penalty imposed on Elon Musk\u2019s platform exposes the \u201creal face\u201d of the bloc\u2019s \u201ccensorship,\u201d Florian Philippot has told RT<\/p>\n
The fine imposed by the EU on social media platform X constitutes a \u201cviolent attack\u201d on freedom of speech, the leader of France\u2019s Patriots party, Florian Philippot, told RT in an exclusive interview on Monday.
\nHis comments came after the EU fined X \u20ac120 million ($163 million) last week for allegedly failing to comply with transparency requirements under the bloc\u2019s 2022 Digital Services Act. The platform\u2019s US-based majority owner, Elon Musk, responded by denouncing the EU, likening it to \u201cthe Fourth Reich.\u201d
\n\u201cThe absolutely crazy fine of \u20ac120 million that the European Commission has just imposed on Elon Musk\u2019s social networks is obviously a violent attack against freedom of expression by the European Union,\u201d Philippot told RT.
\nThe EU had used what he described as a thin justification for the decision, pointing to \u201cthe blue pastilles on the accounts on X\u201d and calling it a \u201cpretext\u201d that \u201cmade no sense.\u201d
\nThe politician went on to say that the EU\u2019s \u201creal face of censorship\u201d was becoming visible \u201cin the eyes of the whole world,\u201d and that influential voices, \u201clike Musk in particular,\u201d were rising \u201cto claim its pure and simple disappearance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Musk equates EU to \u2018Fourth Reich\u2019<\/p>\n
Philippot said he was watching reactions from abroad, including from the administration of US President Donald Trump, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Hungary\u2019s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who he said reacted \u201cvery firmly against the European Union.\u201d
\nHe said Musk had, \u201cfor the first time,\u201d triggered what he called a \u201cworldwide deflagration\u201d by arguing it was necessary \u201cto abolish the European Union,\u201d which Philippot described as \u201ca totalitarian regime.\u201d
\nThe French politician also referenced Musk\u2019s separate remarks branding the EU a \u201cbureaucratic monster\u201d and saying its leadership has been \u201cslowly smothering Europe to death.\u201d Musk wrote that \u201cThe EU should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries so that governments can better represent their people.\u201d
\nAligning himself with that message, Philippot said his party was a \u201csovereignist\u201d movement backing a French departure from the bloc. According to him, \u201cFrexit\u201d would restore \u201cfreedom of expression,\u201d shift diplomacy toward peace rather than \u201cwar against Russia,\u201d and help tackle domestic issues including the economy, agriculture, energy, and immigration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The \u20ac120 million penalty imposed on Elon Musk\u2019s platform exposes the \u201creal face\u201d of the bloc\u2019s \u201ccensorship,\u201d Florian Philippot has told RT The fine imposed by the EU on social…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t