The EU far right wants to give Elon Musk a free speech award

Controversial tech mogul Elon Musk got the backing of Europe’s far-right lawmakers for a European Union award on freedom of thought on Thursday.

The owner of X and self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” got the nominations by the European Parliament’s two most far-right groups for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, a yearly award that was previously given to Nelson Mandela, Pakistani women’s rights fighter Malala Yousafzai and former United Nations leader Kofi Annan.

French EU lawmaker Thierry Mariani, a key backer of one of the two nominations, said Musk was a “symbol” in the fight for freedom of expression and linked the tech entrepreneur’s efforts to combat “radical Islamism and wokism” as key reasons behind the nomination.

Musk bought X in 2022 and has decimated the platform’s efforts to moderate content, sparking widespread criticism that fake news, hate speech and vile content are now running rampant on the platform. He has been in fights with officials and regulators worldwide, recently clashing with United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer over X’s role in the race riots and the Brazilian Supreme Court, which banned the social media platform as part of a crackdown on disinformation.

Musk got nominations from Mariani’s Patriots for Europe group as well as the Europe of Sovereign Nations group led by German far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

“The fight that must be waged, including in this institution, is the fight for freedom of expression,” the French lawmaker said.

Last year, far-right lawmakers had already picked the tech billionaire for his decision to release the so-called Twitter Files, which revealed how the social media company handled political content removal requests.

The award includes a €50,000 prize. It is awarded annually to individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to the protection of freedom of expression, the rights of minorities, respect for international law or the development of democracy.

Musk’s clashes with online regulators

Musk’s likelihood of winning the prize is very low. The tech billionaire landed in the crosshairs of regulators, including the European Commission, for allowing disinformation and illegal content to spread unchecked on X.

The tech mogul has also clashed several times with Thierry Breton — who served as the bloc’s internal market chief until he stepped down from his role earlier this month — over Musk’s lax approach to moderation since taking over the platform in 2022.

Civil society groups have also accused him of personally spreading harmful disinformation to his wide audience. A recent analysis by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate showed that Musk’s false or misleading U.S. election claims have been viewed nearly 1.2 billion times on X.

Despite those controversies, far-right lawmakers are hoping he can make it to the shortlist of three candidates this year, which will be drawn up through a vote next month at the committee level. Getting shortlisted means Musk will be invited to the European Parliament to defend his vision of free speech, as is tradition for the finalists of the prize.

“We keep talking about him but we’ve never seen him here,” Mariani said.

Personalities nominated by other political groups included Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado and exiled presidential candidate Edmundo González; Israeli and Palestinian peace organizations Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun; Azerbaijani anti-corruption fighter Gubad Ibadoghlu; and journalists in Palestine.

The European Parliament’s conference of presidents, gathering the Parliament’s president and the political group chairs, will select the final laureate on Oct. 24, ahead of the award ceremony in Strasbourg on Dec. 18.