Elon Musk calls Czech EU commissioner 'embodiment of evil'

American billionaire and owner of social media platform X Elon Musk has called out and leveled harsh criticism at the Czech European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová.

Musk’s comments came after the outgoing European Commissioner suggested in an interview with international media platform Politico that the platform's relaxed content moderation had allowed harmful content, including anti-Semitic posts, to proliferate.

"Of all the bosses I have met, he is the only one unable to distinguish between good and evil," Jourová claimed earlier this week.

Following Musk's post, Jourová refused to accept his words, telling Czech media outlet Echo24 that she sees "evil" as a term that denotes "violence, killing, Holocaust denial, and online hatred."

Economist Lukáš Kovanda summarized online that: "Brussels' aim is obviously to expel the inconvenient businessman [Musk] from the EU by bullying him."

The tension between Musk and the European Commission has been growing since Musk purchased Twitter in 2022. After laying off most of the platform's staff and scaling back content moderation, X has faced scrutiny from the EU over potential violations of digital content regulations. The European Commission has warned that X could face fines for its failure to comply with these rules.

Musk, a vocal supporter of free speech and an advocate for former President Donald Trump in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, has frequently clashed with EU regulators.

His annoyance with Jourová stems from her previous efforts to tame the monopolistic practices of large IT companies, including those owned by Musk, and to increase regulation of them.

In response to the criticism, Musk doubled down on his stance, defending X as a platform for freedom of expression while dismissing Jourová’s comments as mere bureaucratic overreach.

Jourová has been vice president of the European Commission for Values and Transparency since 2019, but her tenure is now ending. Jourová had notably been part of the right-wing, populist ANO movement in Czechia—led by Former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who has a warm relationship with Trump—though announced she was leaving the party in June this year. 

Back in April, her boss Babiš publicly said that Jourová had gone to Brussels as a “normal person” but then “went completely crazy there.” He condemned Jourová for supporting the European Pact on Freedom of the Media, which promotes free speech.