Robert Habeck—Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and unpopular lead candidate for the left-wing Greens at the upcoming elections in Germany—has criticised President Donald Trump and his ally, South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, for teaming up “to eliminate boundaries on power.”
Habeck stated that Musk—the owner of social media platform X, formerly Twitter—and other U.S. tech giants “must be regulated, if necessary, in a way that aligns with our values,” during a TV debate on Monday, February 17th. Together with his leftist colleagues in the German parliament, he has sought repeatedly to close down free speech.
Since acquiring Twitter in 2022, and rebranding it as X, Musk has transformed the platform so that it encourages free speech and rejects censorship. Instead of third-party fact-checking, content deemed unsuitable by some users can be put into context by adding “community notes.” Musk has also restored the banned accounts of public personalities, such as Donald Trump, and has since become the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Trump’s cabinet.
Given the fact that Musk has also expressed his support for the German liberal elites’ main political rival, the right-wing, anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), it is unsurprising that Habeck isn’t too sympathetic towards the billionaire and X.
“We cannot be dependent on Chinese algorithms or Elon Musk’s far-right fantasies when it comes to shaping our democracy,” Habeck said on Monday, and called for Germany or Europe to have its own communication platform. He appears to have learned little from the history of alternative platforms, left and right (Bluesky, Mastodon, Gettr etc.), which have more often than not become echo chambers online.
Habeck, whose Green party is polling in fourth place at 12% ahead of the elections this Sunday, is not a fan of free speech, either, and has regularly called for more censorship of online platforms. The politician has not taken kindly to being ridiculed online by ordinary German citizens, and has filed criminal complaints against his critics, resulting in some of them being harassed by authorities, their homes raided by police.
Habeck’s words on Monday coincided with a broadcast by U.S. television programme ‘60 Minutes’ on the restrictions on freedom of speech in Germany. In the episode, German prosecutors explain what legal consequences await people who spread “hate speech” on social media.
U.S. vice president JD Vance responded to a clip that went viral by saying: “This is Orwellian, and everyone in Europe and the U.S. must reject this lunacy.”
Vance caused upheaval recently with a fiery speech at the Munich Security Conference, lambasting the European elites’ attacks on freedom of expression and attempts to eliminate their political rivals.
I believe deeply that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions, and the conscience that guide your very own people … If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you, nor, for that matter, is there anything that you can do for the American people who elected me and elected President Trump. You need democratic mandates to accomplish anything of value in the coming years.
During his trip to Germany, the vice president met the AfD co-leader and nominee for chancellor Alice Weidel. This sparked a backlash from the establishment parties who are keen to maintain a cordon sanitaire around the AfD, thereby ignoring the will of millions of voters.
The AfD is the second most popular party and is expected to get 20-22% of the votes on Sunday.
