Salvini stands up against EU politicians trying to ban X/Twitter in the name of free speech

Matteo Salvini, the leader of the right-wing Italian government party Lega, evaluated the proposal on Monday evening as a dangerous restriction of freedom of speech, suggesting that if X, which is owned by Elon Musk, does not comply with European regulations, it could be closed in EU member states.

Matteo Salvini described the statements of European Union politicians regarding the possible closure of X as unacceptable and alarming on his social media pages.

“If Elon Musk does not respect the European regulations on digital services, the European Union could shut down X in Europe,”

-wrote Matteo Salvini.

The right-wing politician referred to a previous letter from Thierry Breton, the outgoing European Commissioner for the Internal Market. On August 12, in a letter before an interview broadcast on X with US presidential candidate Donald Trump, Breton called on Elon Musk to comply with EU laws. Sandro Gozi stated in the Italian daily La Repubblica on Monday: “if Elon Musk does not adapt to the European regulations on digital services, the European Commission will ask service providers operating on the continent to shut down X, or as a last resort, order the complete cessation of the social media platform in the Union.” Sandro Gozi was previously the EU Affairs Minister in the Renzi government and is currently a European Parliament member for the French government party led by Emmanuel Macron.

Matteo Salvini believed that “Macron’s Italian European Parliament member” made another threat against freedom of speech in Europe.

The Digital Service Act, which regulates digital services, contains alarming elements suggestive of censorship, and Lega was the only Italian party that voted against it,

-wrote Salvini. Matteo Salvini stated, “they want to silence millions of people who think differently (…) unacceptable! Enough of the muzzle!”

The League politician attached a thank you message from Elon Musk to his post.