Europe “cannot continue to pretend nothing is happening. It must ensure that digital platforms do not become tools for political interference in member states’ elections.” says PD MEP Sandro Ruotolo, after Elon Musk called Marine Le Pen “France’s last hope” on social media.

For Ruotolo, “freedom of speech must always be defended, but equally important is protecting the autonomy of democratic processes from those who possess unprecedented economic, technological and communicative power.”

This is not the first time, Ruotolo notes, that Musk has intervened in European politics. “He previously intervened in the German elections, openly supporting AfD, the far-right party, helping to legitimize it internationally. Today AfD has become one of Germany’s main political forces and competes for primacy with other parties.”

“We are not facing mere personal opinions,” he continues, “we are facing the political intervention of a man who concentrates immense wealth and controls one of the world’s main digital platforms. When the owner of a global communications infrastructure intervenes directly in the election campaigns of other countries, the issue is no longer just freedom of expression. It concerns the protection of democracy,” he concludes.