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Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
BRUSSELS — One of the cardinal rules of Fight Club, the '90s bloodsport classic that enjoys cult status among Silicon Valley’s tech-bro caste, is that “fights will go on as long as they have to.”
Europe’s leaders would do well to learn that lesson as they grapple with the question of how to handle Elon Musk, the megalomaniac globalist billionaire cum Rasputin to the US president-elect currently engaged in a rhetorical rampage against the continent’s political establishment.
The South Africa-born American is fond of presenting himself as a Marvel superhero and his recent jihad against Europe’s political establishment has been no less cartoonish.
In the past few weeks alone, Musk has called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz an “incompetent idiot” and the country’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, an “anti-democratic tyrant.” He saved his harshest invective for Keir Starmer whom he accused of being complicit in the “rape of Britain” during the UK prime minister’s tenure as the country's chief prosecutor, a claim as absurd as it is libellous.
Though an immigrant himself, Musk has become an enthusiastic supporter of many of Europe’s most virulent anti-migration forces, from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Tommy Robinson, a British far-right activist currently serving a prison term for contempt of court.
Musk has also discovered a soft spot for Alice Weidel, the leader of the Alternative for Germany, a party that, among other things, wants to take Europe’s largest country out of the EU. As you read this, you may be watching in the background his livestream with Weidel, whose party Musk has called Germany’s “last spark of hope.”
One may wonder why Musk, the richest man in the world who appears to spend most of his free time whispering into Donald Trump’s ear at Mar-a-Lago (a shrine to American ostentation in Palm Beach), is so obsessed with Europe.
This answer is simple: business.
Europe is the key market for all of Musk’s ventures, from X to SpaceX and, especially, Tesla, which has a market share in electric vehicles of about 15% in the region.
Musk’s budding alliance with Meloni illustrates how his ready access to senior politicians helps him grease the skids for his businesses. Rome is currently in discussions with SpaceX on a contract that would grant the Italian government secure access to Starlink, a satellite-based internet service.
When things don’t go Musk’s way, he pulls his literal Trump card. JD Vance, the American vice president-elect, has gone so far as to threaten to pull Washington’s support for NATO if the Europeans try to rein Musk in over his stewardship of X.
“We’ve got to say American power comes with certain strings attached,” he told a podcaster in September. “One of those is respect free speech, especially in our European allies.”
Europe’s answer to such naked coercion should not be to run and hide as it has done in recent days, but, to take a page out of Trump’s handbook and “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
No one understands escalation and domination better than Musk, which is why he’s been running circles around Europe’s leaders. A few years ago, he described to his biographer how he came to understand power dynamics, recalling his experience at a paramilitary summer camp in his native South Africa. After getting thrashed in his first year, he changed tactics.
“I realised by then that if someone bullied me, I could punch them very hard in the nose, and then they wouldn’t bully me again,” he said. “They might beat the shit out of me, but if I had punched them hard in the nose, they wouldn’t come after me again.”
It’s time for Europe to take Musk's advice and use the full force of its regulatory toolbox to curtail the excesses of X. At this stage no EU country would grant Musk even a local radio broadcast license. That he is permitted to broadcast disinformation to hundreds of millions of people across Europe without any controls is not just absurd, but dangerous.
Musk has thrown down the gauntlet. The EU should not just accept the fight, it should take it to him. X marks the spot.
Roundup
Tech – Exclusive: European Commission officials fear that their heavy reliance on Microsoft constitutes a clear breach of EU data rules, according to internal Commission documents, which contradict the executive’s public statements on the matter.MEPs – The European Parliament's socialist and liberal groups have called for a debate on fake news and hate speech in the next Strasbourg plenary on 20-23 January.
Health – The Working Party on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices on Thursday will discuss the elements of the pharma package linked to labelling, including the ePI, advertising and prescriptions.
Across Europe
Germany – Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is preparing to broadcast Germany’s far right, but he does not seem to get Europeans. His European adventure started as the kind of trolling typical of Donald Trump’s favourite 'stable genius'.
Czech Republic – The Czech Senate is set to debate a new anti-spy law aimed at combating foreign espionage, mainly from Russia, but some fear it could limit freedom of speech.
Bulgaria – Kazakhstan's state-owned oil and gas company KazMunayGas has reportedly offered $1 billion to buy Lukoil Neftochim Burgas, Bulgaria's only refinery currently owned by Russia's Lukoil.
Agenda
10 January- EU Commissioner Roxana Mînzatu holds a videoconference call with Polish Minister for National Education Barbara Nowacka.
- EU Commissioner Lahbib holds a videoconference meeting with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric.
- EU Commissioner Tzitzikostas receives Minister for Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy of Greece Christos Stylianides.
