Paris and London have called out billionarie Elon Musk for alleged interference in European political debate and spreading of misinformation, with France urging a robust EU response to protect public discourse.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will host French President Emmanuel Macron for talks this Thursday following comments made by tech billionaire Elon Musk which have been deemed as "interfering" with European politics.
According to the prime minister's office, Starmer will meet with Macron at his country retreat of Chequers in Buckinghamshire near London.
Musk has provoked fury across Europe with a string of hostile attacks on Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The billionaire has spent days posting incendiary comments on his X platform over historical sex offences against children in northern England.
Musk has called for Labour leader Starmer – elected by a landslide in a general election last July – to be removed from office.
He has also urged the release from jail of Tommy Robinson, one of Britain's best known far-right agitators.
On Monday, Starmer condemned those "spreading lies and misinformation," adding that "a line has been crossed" with some of the online criticism – in a thinly veiled swipe at Musk.
Starmer pushes for stronger post-Brexit EU ties in Paris and Berlin talks
Protect EU states from 'interference'
This comes as France's foreign minister urged the European Commission to protect EU member states with "the greatest firmness" against interference in political debate, particularly from Musk.
Speaking this Wednesday on France Inter radio, Jean-Noel Barrot said: "Either the European Commission applies with the greatest firmness the laws that we have given ourselves to protect our public space, or it does not do so and then it will have to agree to give back the capacity to do so to the EU member states."
"We have to wake up," he added.
Asked whether X could be banned in Europe, Barrot replied that such a mechanism to close a social media platform "is laid out in our laws".
"As Europeans," Barrot posted on X, "we have equipped ourselves with clear rules to protect public debate online".
Musk's 'DOGE' commission
Musk, who has secured unprecedented influence thanks to his proximity to US president-elect Donald Trump, is set for a prominent role in Trump's administration as head of a so-called "Department of Government Efficiency" or DOGE.
He has provoked fury across Europe with a string of attacks on the continent's leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
"When you take part in a government or aspire to take part in one, your opinions have a rather special value," said Barrot.*
EU concerned by high disinformation rate on Musk's X platform
Macron slams 'direct intervention'
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron accused Musk of intervening in elections, including Germany's snap legislative polls next month.
"Ten years ago, who could have imagined it if we had been told that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world would support a new international reactionary movement and intervene directly in elections, including in Germany," Macron said in a speech to French ambassadors.
