In a letter to European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager and European Commissioner Thierry Breton, Renew Europe called for stronger action against Elon Musk’s social media platform X.

It comes amid recent political violence in Ireland sparked earlier in August by Musk’s repeated calls for “civil war” in Europe, exacerbated by his promotion of false information.

In the letter, Renew Europe President Valérie Hayer MEP and First Vice-President Billy Kelleher MEP call for the immediate implementation of the EU’s Digital Services Act.

Renew Europe will request a debate on political extremism and social media platforms at the European Parliament’s next Plenary session on 16-19 September.

“Elon Musk must clean up his act and take moral and legal responsibility for his actions and those of his platform. If Musk cannot be compelled by ethics, the law must step in. Political violence has no place in democratic societies and we all have a duty to combat it,” said Hayer.

Kelleher added: “Mr Musk and X must become part of the solution to political extremism instead of propagators of it. We will not tolerate that Europe’s way of life is put under threat by Mr Musk calling for civil war on Europe’s streets.

“We’re particularly proud of our Commissioners in charge who continuously make sure that the DSA is well implemented and respected. Now it is on Elon Musk to pay respect to our rules as much as our family does.”