The Facts
The EU on Monday announced plans to investigate Elon Musk's social media platform X over suspected violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA) — it will be the bloc's first proceeding against a tech company under the law.
In a post on X, European Commissioner Thierry Burton said that the EU's regulatory body would "open formal infringement proceedings against @X" to see if the platform's free speech rules violate parts of the DSA.
The Spin
Narrative A
Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, now X, he has opened the floodgates to extremism and disinformation, allowing for rampant violations of the DSA. Musk gutted the platform's content moderation team and has flat-out celebrated policies that allow users to push toxic content into the world. Hate speech and conspiracy theories have become commonplace on X, and the EU has an obligation to protect its residents from dangerous actors that seek to poison the minds of the public.
Narrative B
The pro-censorship regime running the EU is bringing out the big guns to punish Elon Musk for daring to promote free speech. The hypocritical "pro-democracy" nations can't fathom their citizens being exposed to new ideas and are determined to eradicate wrong thoughts by any means necessary. The DSA's regulations have been made specifically to target Musk after he freed Twitter from censorship, and authorities are ready to strike back against freedom fighters who question the status quo.