Spain Summons Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg for Hearings on Democratic Governance in Digital Services and Media

Original article: España cita a declarar a Elon Musk y Mark Zuckerberg por gobernanza democrática en servicios digitales y medios de comunicación

The Spanish Congress of Deputies will continue its legislative activities in January, utilizing the traditionally inactive month to advance critical hearings related to the Draft Law on Enhancing Democratic Governance in Digital Services and Media Management.

At the center of the controversy are the requests for global figures such as Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Meta (Facebook, Instagram), and Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter) and CEO of SpaceX, to testify before the Commission on Economy, Trade, and Digital Transformation, as reported by Democrata.

The Economy Commission Board will meet on Tuesday, January 2, to finalize the schedule for these important hearings, according to sources from Parliament. The information regarding the list of summoned individuals comes from the official registry of requests by parliamentary groups, which reveals the scale and political ambition behind these summons.

Details of the List and Political Context

The request for Elon Musk to testify was initiated by the parliamentary group of Vox, with whom the mogul has a publicly supportive relationship. Musk has been a prominent international supporter of Santiago Abascal’s party and has also shown backing for other far-right European parties such as Alternative for Germany (AfD) and has aligned views with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

In contrast, the PSOE has called for Mark Zuckerberg to appear. However, the list of requested testimonies is much broader and includes executives and former high-ranking officials from Google, TikTok, Instagram, and representatives from real estate tech firms like Idealista and Fotocasa (at the request of Sumar).

Legislative Goals and Background

The framework for these hearings is the aforementioned draft law, which aims to transpose the European Digital Services Directive and appoint the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) as the national coordinator, granting it investigative and enforcement capacities in the digital realm.

Beyond the tech leaders, representatives from the CNMC, the newly established Spanish Agency for Artificial Intelligence Supervision (AESIA), the Catalan Competition Authority, the Catalan Data Protection Authority, and nearly a dozen experts from the academic and legal sectors are also expected to testify.

The process is already underway; two weeks ago, the president of the CNMC, Cani Fernández, and the researcher from IMDEA Networks, Narseo Vallina, appeared before the committee.

The Citizen.