Germany’s economy minister and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck pushed for Europe to create its version of social media platform X and urged the continent to break away from Silicon Valley’s dominance.
Habeck went after tech billionaire and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, for purported hypocrisy on free speech and said that X, along with other social media platforms, needed tighter regulation.
“They claim to stand for free expression, yet they guard their algorithms like state secrets. This is not transparency—it is manipulation,” Habeck said on Monday’s televised Q&A with voters.
The economic minister, Greens’ leading candidate in the upcoming election, said social media companies should be regulated to adhere to European values, and the laws currently in the books are not cutting it.
“They must be regulated,” he said on Monday. “If necessary, regulated in a way that aligns with our values.”
He added that Germany and the rest of Europe should have their version of X.
“Why don’t we have a German or European communication platform of our own?” Habeck said. “We cannot be dependent on Chinese algorithms or Elon Musk’s far-right fantasies when it comes to shaping our democracy. Europe must take back control of its digital space.”
Habeck’s tirade against Musk exemplified Western Europe’s worry about the influence of Big Tech on the continent. The minister also hammered Musk over his involvement with the current U.S. administration led by President Trump.
“The most powerful person in the world—the U.S. President—and the richest person in the world, Elon Musk, have joined forces to break down the boundaries of power,” Habeck said.
The Greens’ Sergey Lagodinsky, who has served as a member of the European Parliament since 2019, said last month that the European Union or a consortium of European firms should acquire the popular video-sharing platform TikTok.
Musk’s recent veer into German politics has caused unease among top officials. The SpaceX executive wrote an op-ed in late December where he expressed strong support for the far-right German political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) and argued that Berlin is near an “economic and cultural collapse.”
In response, the German government accused him of trying to interfere in the country’s upcoming election.
The head of Tesla also addressed the party’s supporters in January, encouraging them to “move beyond” the “past guilt.”
“Something I think that is just very important is that people take pride in Germany and being German. This is very important,” Musk said. “It’s, you know, it’s OK to be proud to be German. This is a very important principle.”
