According to Matteo Salvini, "millions of people who think differently want to be silenced (...) unacceptable! Enough of the gag!”

Matteo Salvini, the president of the Italian right-wing government party League, assessed the proposal that if the X social media owned by Elon Musk does not respect European regulations, it could be closed in the states of the European Union as a dangerous restriction of freedom of speech.

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

"If Elon Musk does not respect European regulations on digital services, the European Union could close Xt in Europe," wrote Matteo Salvini.

The right-wing politician referred to the previous letter of Thierry Breton, the outgoing Commissioner for the Internal Market of the European Commission. On August 12, Breton called on Elon Musk to comply with EU legislation in a letter prior to the interview with US presidential candidate Donald Trump broadcast on X.

On Monday, Sandro Gozi said in the Italian daily La Repubblica: "if Elon Musk does not adapt to the European rules on digital services, the European Commission will ask the service providers operating on the continent to stop X, or in the last case, order the complete termination of the social media platform in the territory of the Union".

Sandro Gozi was the minister of EU affairs in the former Renzi government, and is currently a member of the European Parliament of the French government party led by Emanuel Macron.

Matteo Salvini believed that "Macron's Italian MEP" had made another threat against freedom of speech in Europe.

The Digital Service Act, which regulates digital services, is a "European regulation that contains worrying elements that suggest censorship, and the League was the only Italian party to vote against it," Salvini wrote.

According to Matteo Salvini

"they want to silence millions of people who think differently (...) unacceptable! Enough of the gag!”

The League politician also attached a message of thanks from Elon Musk to his post.

MTI

Cover photo: Matteo Salvini, president of the Italian governing party League, in the program Porta a Porta of Italian public television, Rai Uno, in Rome on June 15, 2022.
MTI/EPA/ANSA/Riccardo Antimiani