Far-right lawmakers nominate Musk for top EU rights award

BRUSSELS (AFP) — Far-right lawmakers have proposed Elon Musk for the EU’s top rights prize for the second year in a row as a champion of “free speech,” the European Parliament said on Thursday.

The billionaire boss of social media platform X was among nominees put forward by EU lawmakers for the prestigious Sakharov Prize — a choice that raised a few eyebrows in Brussels.

Other nominees included Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, her ally presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, and jailed Azerbaijiani activist Gubad Ibadoghlu.

Musk was recommended by the far-right Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations groups, with the first citing “his commitment to free speech, transparency, and fighting against censorship.”

The owner of Tesla and SpaceX, Musk has repeatedly sparred with the European Commission over EU rules requiring social media to better police online content.

The EU could decide within months to take action against X, including possible fines, as part of a probe into whether the social platform has breached content laws.

But French lawmaker Thierry Mariani of the Patriots told AFP the nomination was not meant as a dig to the commission.

The group wanted to reward Musk for the work X was doing to foster “free and independent debate” at a time where “freedom of expression is threatened by woke ideology.”

Paying tribute to individuals who made “an outstanding contribution to protecting freedom of thought,” the Sakharov Prize counts South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny among previous recipients.

Musk was also nominated last year, but was not shortlisted.

“Elon is increasingly the leader of extremists and nationalists around the world. His cheerleaders in the EU made him another gift,” said Sandro Gozi of the centrist Renew Europe group.

A winner is to be selected next month ahead of the prize ceremony in December.

Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia were named by the conservative European People’s Party Group, with the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists also backing Gonzalez Urrutia.

The center-left Socialists and Democrats and the centrist Renew Europe backed two Israeli and Palestinian organizations working together for peace, while The Left chose a group of Palestinian journalists, including some who died covering the conflict in Gaza.

Ibadoghlu was named by the Greens.

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By Agence France-Presse