EU tech chief to Elon Musk: 'We're protecting freedom of speech!'
ADVERTISEMENT
The Digital Services Act (DSA) is not intended to regulate content but to protect freedom of speech, EU Commissioner for tech Henna Virkkunen tells Euronews' Shona Murray in an interview featured on Radio Schuman today.
Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump have criticised the EU's regulatory efforts, arguing that they undermine democracy and free speech.
In response to this criticism, Virkkunen downplayed concerns from the United States, reaffirmed the Commission's commitment to enforcing the Digital Services Act, and emphasised that online platforms were currently cooperating with the investigation.
We also discuss the new US tariffs coming into effect today, as well as European legislation on flight reimbursements.
Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by David Brodheim. Music by Alexandre Jas.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
31 minutes ago
- Euronews
Graz holds Mass for victims of Austria's deadliest shooting since WWII
Several hundred people attended a Mass in Graz for the 10 victims of Austria's deadliest shooting in its post-war history on Tuesday evening. Ten people, including students, were killed and others injured on Tuesday after a gunman opened fire at a school in Austria's second-biggest city before killing himself, according to authorities. There was no immediate information on the motive of the 21-year-old former student of the school, who had no previous police records. Austria's Press Agency said the authorities seized a suicide note reportedly belonging to the attacker, which provided no clues as to why he carried out the attack. He owned two weapons which he used to carry out the assault, both of which he legally owned. Austria's Chancellor Christian Stocker, Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler and Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger attended the Mass for the victims at Graz Cathedral. 'Today is a dark day in the history of our country,' Stocker told reporters in the city of about 300,000 people in southern Austria and the capital of Styria. The day was 'a national tragedy that shocks us deeply', he said as he declared three days of national mourning, with the Austrian flag lowered to half-mast at official buildings. A national minute of silence is to be held on Wednesday morning in memory of the victims. Resident Elisabeth Schuster, who came to the Mass to show solidarity with the victims of the tragedy, said the incident "shocked me a lot like everybody else." "I'm with them, feel for them. And I hope that together we can find a way, so that something like this never happens again," she added. In Graz's main square people also gathered for a candle-lit vigil to mourn the victims of the fatal attack. Cobra special forces were among those sent as part of the first response team to the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school, about a kilometre from Graz's historic centre, after calls at 10 am local time reporting shots at the building. More than 300 police officers were also deployed to the scene, who helped evacuate students from the school. Footage from the scene showed students filing out quickly past armed officers. Police said security was restored in 17 minutes. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said the gunman had been a student at the school who had failed to complete his studies. Austria has some of the more liberal gun laws in the EU.
Euronews
3 hours ago
- Euronews
French Senate backs law to regulate ultra fast fashion
The French Senate overwhelmingly backed a new bill designed to regulate low-cost clothing giants on Tuesday, mainly targeting Chinese e-commerce platforms Shein and Temu. The text aims to tackle the environmental and economic consequences of fast fashion, a model that thrives on mass production and low prices. The legislation introduces an eco-score system that will evaluate the environmental impact of products sold by fast fashion companies, including emissions, resource use, and recyclability. Brands with the lowest scores could be taxed up to €5 per item starting in 2025, increasing to €10 by 2030. However, the tax cannot exceed 50% of the item's retail price. It also includes a ban on advertising for ultra-fast fashion brands and sanctions for influencers who promote them online. While the bill takes aim at ultra-fast fashion platforms like Shein and Temu, it notably spares major European players such as Zara, H&M, and Kiabi from the harshest penalties. Environmental groups have criticised the revised bill for what they see as a weakened ambition. 'It's a missed opportunity,' said Pierre Condamine, campaign manager at Friends of the Earth France. 'We've got a text that's going to target two brands and therefore leave out what represents at least 90% of production and clothing sold in France. So it's a missed opportunity. We could have a real environmental ambition. We are very disappointed because, in the end, we can see that it's economic protection that has become the major driving force behind this bill. In contrast, at its beginning, there was an ambition to move the sector towards more sustainable practices," he told Euronews. But some French lawmakers argue the bill needs to protect European industries first. 'Unfortunately, we have no choice,' said conservative Senator Sylvie Valente Le Hir. 'Today, we still have to defend what's left of our European industries. We have to make a distinction between the production that's done in China by these giants. We're talking about scales that are 100 times larger than us. So we're preserving European and French industries for the time being, because if we don't, there will be nothing left," she told Euronews. Shein spokesperson Quentin Ruffat responded to the bill earlier this week, warning that the text could "impact the purchasing power" of French consumers. Between 2010 and 2023, the value of advertised fast fashion products in France rose from €2.3 billion to €3.2 billion. In France, 35 clothing items are discarded every second, according to the country's environment agency Ademe. The Senate passed the bill with 337 votes in favour and only one against. The text will now move to a joint committee of senators and deputies in September. The European Commission will also need to be notified to ensure the bill complies with EU regulations. If passed, it would mark one of the most aggressive legislative efforts in Europe to address the toll of fast fashion, though its ultimate impact remains to be seen. Several hundred people attended a mass after a former student opened fire at a school in Austria's second-biggest city – Graz – on Tuesday, killing 10 people and injuring many others before taking his own life, according to authorities. There was no immediate information on the motive of the 21-year-old man, who had no previous police records. Two weapons were used to execute the attack, which the attacker is believed to have owned legally, police said. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker as well as Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler and Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger attended the mass at Graz Cathedral. "It shocked me a lot like everybody else," said local resident Elisabeth Schuster. Thinking of the victims and their loved ones, Schuster came to the mass to show her solidarity. "I'm with them, feel for them. And I hope that together we can find a way, so that something like this never happens again," she added. Special forces were among those sent as part of the first response team to the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school, about a kilometre from Graz's historic centre, after calls at 10 am local time reporting shots at the building. More than 300 police officers were also deployed to the scene, who helped evacuate students from the school. Footage from the scene showed students filing out quickly past armed officers. Police said security was restored in 17 minutes. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said the gunman had been a student at the school and hadn't completed his studies. People also gathered for a candle lit vigil in Graz's main square to mourn the victims of the fatal attack. Footage showed dozens of the city's residents in attendance for the event to mark what has become one of the most violent attacks in the city's recent memory.
France 24
5 hours ago
- France 24
'Applied AI' set to dominate France's Vivatech trade fair
The top attraction on the opening day of this year's four-day show will be Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, looking to make a mark in Europe for the company that builds the most computing hardware for artificial intelligence. President Emmanuel Macron, a regular at Vivatech, will also attend the event at the southern Paris convention centre, the Elysee Palace said, with a walking tour and chats with "French Tech" startups on the agenda. Tech watchers expect more products than ever embedding AI into everyday life to be shown off in the exhibition halls. "What's changed from previous years is that we've moved from AI as science fiction to applied AI," Vivatech managing director Francois Bitouzet told AFP. He trailed around 30 sectors with concrete AI-powered products on show, from luxury to insurance, health, energy, cars, logistics and more. Around 14,000 startups and more than 3,000 investors are expected to travel to Paris from around the world, while organisers forecast total visitor numbers to at least equal last year's 165,000 people. Nvidia headlining Nvidia's Huang -- likely sporting his trademark leather jacket -- has top billing with an opening presentation slated to last more than an hour. Bitouzet said it was a "source of pride" to bring aboard semiconductor heavyweight Nvidia, whose high-powered GPUs (graphics processing units) are widely used to power the latest generative AI models. "It proves that the European market in general and the French market in particular are attractive and that today (Nvidia) has ambitions for this market," the Vivatech boss added. EY's European tech, media and telecoms chief Cedric Foray predicted that "there will definitely be announcements targeted at Europe" from Nvidia. The US firm has seen export restrictions slapped on its top-performing chips by both the Joe Biden and Donald Trump administrations, with US politicians leery of ceding their country's lead in generative AI. Huang has warned that China is nevertheless making swift strides to catch up. There was little sign of impact from export restrictions on Nvidia's chip sales in its May earnings release. But the company has warned the braking effect may be larger in the current quarter. Tech sovereignty US politics preoccupies many European tech leaders and policymakers too. Concerns range from Trump's mercurial tariff policy to the continent's ability to stand on its own without US giants -- and the massive gap in funding for AI development between the two sides of the Atlantic. "Sovereignty, which wasn't as important in the conversation just a year or two years ago, has become an absolutely strategic priority," Bitouzet said. Macron is expected to again emphasise "European technological sovereignty", the Elysee said. Such remarks from the president would build on his hyping of French and European openness to AI at a Paris global summit in February. Top French firms at Vivatech -- where around half the exhibitors are local companies -- will include Mistral AI, a French competitor to much-bigger OpenAI. Mistral's founder Arthur Mensch is set to discuss AI with Macron and Huang at a roundtable at the end of the first day of the event.
