![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-grey-6-180x22.svg\"){kind=logo}
ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\nADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
The fallout between US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, along with the expansion of the Digital Services Act (DSA) on July 1st, could make the law easier for the European Commission to enforce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Experts told Euronews Next that while Musk worked as a special employee at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), it is possible that he was perceived as an official voice of the administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Musk\u2019s former position could have made it harder for the Commission to put penalties on Musk\u2019s social media network X because they were worried about a larger \u201cspillover effect\u201d with the Trump administration, said Oreste Pollicino, professor of digital constitutionalism and artificial intelligence at Bocconi University in Italy.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusk was seen not only as the owner of X but as a part of the US administration; this will not be the case anymore,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cthe political cost of targeting Musk could decrease\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018They worry about the fallout\u2019<\/p>\n
The DSA is a piece of legislation<\/strong><\/a> that regulates the spread of illegal and harmful online activities on platforms such as marketplaces, social media sites and app stores.\u00a0<\/p>\n On July 1st, a voluntary code of practice on disinformation will be folded into the DSA, which means platforms will have to abide by it going forward. (Twitter had signed<\/strong><\/a> the code in 2018 under previous leadership but withdrew<\/strong><\/a> in 2023 after Elon Musk bought the platform and renamed it X.)\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s no proof that the Commission is avoiding taking action against X due to Musk\u2019s ties with Trump at the time because that would make it look \u201cvery bad, \u201d said Jan Penfrat, senior policy advisor with European Digital Rights.<\/p>\n However, he said that one of the major indicators that the Commission was worried about the Trump-Musk relationship is the fact that there is not yet a decision in its initial investigation into X, which was launched over 500 days ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last July, preliminary findings from the Commission found that X was in violation of the DSA in areas of \u201cdark patterns, advertising transparency, and data access for researchers\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s tonnes of evidence. The Commission said so themselves. So why are we still waiting on [a] binding decision against X?\u201d Penfrat told Euronews Next.<\/p>\n \u201cOne good explanation would be that yes, they are hesitant because they worry about the fallout \u2026 so if Trump and Musk aren\u2019t getting along anymore, [it could] lead to stronger and more decisions [under the legislation]\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n How could the Commission prevent future enforcement issues?<\/p>\n In the wake of the Trump-Musk fallout, Pollicino said there could be additional appetite from EU lawmakers to introduce complementary \u201cinstruments\u201d to close certain enforcement gaps.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the things these instruments could focus on is refining a \u201cmore precise criteria\u201d for what might constitute a \u201csystemic risk\u201d for harmful content, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n