EU threatens Musk with Twitter ban
Elon Musk has massively restricted content moderation since taking power on Twitter. The EU Commission does not agree with this.
The European Commission is threatening to block Twitter if the network does not comply with European content moderation standards, the Financial Times reports. The newspaper refers to a video call between EU Commissioner Thierry Breton and Twitter boss Elon Musk.
Accordingly, Breton said he was happy to hear that Musk had read the so-called EU law on digital services (Digital Services Act, DSA). But Twitter still has a lot of work to do.
The social network must introduce transparent user guidelines, moderate content much more, protect freedom of expression and take decisive action against disinformation, the top politician said after the video call.
DSA enables a Twitter block within the EU
If Twitter does not follow the rules of the DSA, the service faces an EU-wide ban and a fine of up to six percent of the company’s annual turnover. Twitter’s annual turnover last year was around five billion US dollars, which would make a fine of up to 287 million euros possible.
Musk had always emphasized that what he saw as excessive restrictions on freedom of expression on the platform should be removed. Critics fear that he could encourage hate speech and hate speech.
One of the aims of the Digital Services Act is to ensure that platforms remove illegal content on their sites more quickly. The requirements will apply throughout the EU from mid-February 2024 – earlier for particularly large platforms. At the beginning of 2023, Commission employees are to carry out a stress test at Twitter headquarters.
