Brussels has accused its internal market commissioner of going rogue by sending a letter to Elon Musk threatening punishment if content posted on social media site X was found to place EU citizens at risk of “serious harm”. Thierry Breton, the French commissioner, had posted the warning letter on X, the platform owned by Musk, hours before the billionaire interviewed US presidential candidate Donald Trump, also on X. On Tuesday the European Commission denied that Breton had approval from its president Ursula von der Leyen to send the letter. “The timing and the wording of the letter were neither co-ordinated or agreed with the president nor with the [commissioners],” it said. An EU official, who asked not to be named, said: “Thierry has his own mind and way of working and thinking.” The commission has been investigating X, formerly Twitter, since last year over claims of non-compliance with its landmark Digital Services Act passed in 2022, which aims to bring into line the growing power of social media platforms. On Tuesday the commission added: “The [investigation] on dissemination of illegal content and information manipulation is ongoing, we are looking into it, and of course everything that happens on the platform feeds into this assessment.” “The response of X to the management of this type of content is taken into account in the course of the investigation.” Breton’s letter was sent against a background of increased fears in Europe about the spread of disinformation on X. False information on social media has been accused of fuelling far-right sentiment within the EU and the spread of recent riots in the UK.

More From Financial Times: