Elon Musk, the billionaire and owner of the social network X, has called Pedro Sánchez a “tyrant and traitor to the people of Spain” after the Spanish prime minister announced five measures aimed at ending impunity for social‑media platforms and their executives, and at protecting minors from their harmful effects.
Musk quoted on his platform a post in which Sánchez outlined his proposals, using it as an opportunity to hurl those insults at him. He also referred to him as “Dirty Sánchez”— a reference to a coprophilic sexual act — adding a poop emoji.
On Tuesday, Sánchez unveiled a package of five measures intended to curb abuses by major digital platforms and ensure a safe online environment. In that context, the Spanish prime minister argued that “social networks have become a failed state in which laws are ignored, crimes are tolerated.”
One of the measures affects Musk directly: “We will change the law in Spain to hold platform executives legally accountable for the many infringements taking place on their sites.” “This means that CEOs of these tech platforms will face criminal liability for failing to remove illegal or hateful content,” Sánchez explained.
It is the second clash in a matter of days between the world’s richest man and Spain’s prime minister on X. Last Friday, Sánchez responded to a Musk post criticizing Spain’s regularization of migrants with the line: “Mars can wait, humanity can’t.”
Another measure announced by Sánchez is the criminalization of algorithm manipulation and the amplification of illegal content. “This is something created, promoted, and disseminated by certain actors whom we will investigate, as well as the platforms whose algorithms amplify disinformation for profit. Hiding behind code and claiming technology is neutral is over,” he said.
Coincidentally, on Tuesday the Paris Attorney General’s office raided X’s offices in France and summoned Musk to testify regarding algorithm manipulation — specifically, whether he may have facilitated foreign interference by boosting certain messages on his platform.
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