A European Union commissioner obsessed with crushing free speech online has suddenly resigned.
Commissioner Thierry Breton announced in a letter he posted on X Monday that he was immediately resigning after alleged personal struggles with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. This comes after Breton tried to force X owner Elon Musk to censor his interview of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump. And just last week, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) called Breton to account for his anti-free speech actions.
Breton first indicated his decision to resign when he posted an image of a blank canvas with the caption, “Breaking news: My official portrait for the next European Commission term.” He then claimed in his letter that French President Emmanuel Macron nominated him “for a second mandate in the [EU] College of Commissioners,” but accused Von der Leyen of requesting his exclusion. “In the very final stretch of negotiations on the composition of the future College, you asked France to withdraw my name — for personal reasons that in no instance you have discussed directly with me," Breton claimed.
He whined that, in spite of allegedly “advancing the common European good,” now “In light of these latest developments – further testimony to questionable governance – I have to conclude that I can no longer exercise my duties in the College. I am therefore resigning from my position as European Commissioner, effective immediately.”
Breton’s resignation is hardly tragic news to free speech advocates. In August, ahead of Musk’s interview with Trump, Breton issued a letter obliquely referring to the interview and ominously warning of potentially major legal action if “any negative effect” from the interview were to be deemed “illegal” by the EU.
“My services and I will be extremely vigilant to any evidence that points to breaches of the DSA and will not hesitate to make full use of our toolbox, including by adopting interim measures, should it be warranted to protect EU citizens from serious harm,” Breton pontificated at the time, referring to the EU censorship law the Digital Services Act (DSA).
That was not the only example of Breton’s censorship obsession. Last October, he threatened Meta, X and TikTok that they must increase censorship of free speech or face “penalties.”
Breton’s resignation also comes just after U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, who previously criticized Breton’s threats over the Trump interview, slammed Breton in a September letter published by the Brussels Signal. Jordan called out Breton for claiming the Digital Services Act “does not regulate content,” noting that “the DSA defines ‘disinformation’ as a type of ‘content’” that it regulates.
As for Breton himself, Jordan wrote that he “failed to alleviate our concerns that you may attempt to censor or suppress lawful speech in the United States using the European Union’s Digital Services Act.” He added that the “assertion that you would ’never interfere in the American democratic process’ is contradicted by your actions,” in pressuring X.
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