European Commission sends warnings to Elon Musk ahead of his meeting with Trump

The European Commission, the E.U.’s executive branch, sent a letter Monday addressed to Elon Musk and the management of X (Twitter) prior to the interview between the tech mogul and presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The letter, signed by the European Commission’s Internal Market commissioner, French national Thierry Breton, warns the social network owner that he must submit to European Union content rules. Many interpreted the open letter as a threat to Musk and X.

"With a great audience comes greater responsibility," Breton argued when he posted his open letter on X social. "As there is a risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in [the E.U.] in connection with events with major audience around the world, I sent this letter to @elonmusk," he added.

Musk responded to Breton's post with a simple "bonjour," which means "good morning" in French. Shortly afterward, he added yet another response with a meme from the movie “Tropic Thunder.”

But the exchange between Breton and Musk is no coincidence. The European Union accused X in July this year of not respecting its regulation for social networks. For this reason, Elon Musk faces possible sanctions and fines from the European Commission. As Breton recalls in his letter, almost a third of X users log on from European Union member countries.