On January 23, the Cyprus deputy of the European Parliament Fidias Panayota denied the statement that he was the "puppet of Ilona Mask."
The politician released a video on the X platform under the name “I am a puppet Ilon Mask?”, Where he stated that such accusations are unfounded.
“I do not consider myself the representative of Ilon Mask in the European parliament. However, I am pleased that they call me a person who he likes, despite the fact that we never communicated in person or in messengers, ”Panayota emphasized.
According to him, Musk often reacts to his publications on social networks dedicated to work in the European Parliament, comments on them, retweitis and leaves positive reviews. “When he says that Fidias should be the president of Europe, it is funny, but nothing more,” he added.
When asked whether Ilon's comments are threatening a mask of European democracy, Panayota answered negatively:
“I think Musk's support is the beauty of democracy. Why can't a person, even if he is rich, freely express his support for my ideas? This is true freedom of speech."
He also spoke out against censorship of political opinions on the Internet:
“Everyone has the right to speak about European politics. We should not limit their freedom of speech, even if they are influential. ”
Commenting on the fears that Musk can censor X with alternative political views, Panayota said:
“If this happens, users will go to other platforms, such as Tiktok, Facebook or Instagram. But while X demonstrates record indicators, so, obviously, he copes well. ”
However, statistics show that X's number of active users in the European Union declined from September 2023 to October 2024, and the company's advertising revenue has fallen by billions of dollars since its purchase by Musk in 2022.
Source: Cyprus-Mail.com
