ON THURSDAY, the EU’s top tech enforcer warned Elon Musk that Twitter must have enough resources to moderate harmful content — or risk violating the bloc’s landmark rules to rein in big tech. The warning sets up a regulatory battle over the future of the social media platform in Europe, the Financial Times reports. It comes after Musk cut staff and reversed some of Twitter’s content moderation rules, notably banning the accounts of people who call for violence or incite racial hatred.
The company has two months to comply with new EU rules that take effect Aug. 25, requiring “huge online platforms” like Twitter to abide by demanding content moderation standards or face a European ban and fines of up to 6 percent of global revenue. The new rules require the companies to set transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation, protect freedom of speech, and tackle disinformation with resolve. COMMISSIONER THIERRY BRETON, the EU’s point person on digital policy, visited Silicon Valley this week to check in with Twitter and its new CEO Linda Yaccarino.
Breton said in a meeting with Musk that the company must strengthen its tools to identify people behind hateful and extremist content so it can block them and ensure they cannot post again. He added that the company must also move away from its current approach of reinstating banned users who haven’t violated the terms of service and must more aggressively pursue disinformation. He also wants the company to be more open about moderating content, including sharing information with outside experts.
But experts say it’s unlikely the company will be able to comply with the stricter rules. The mass layoffs of employees, including many content-moderation workers, have raised questions about whether the company can meet its obligations under the new law. “It’s hard to know what the consequences will be if they do not meet those obligations,” says Green MEP Kim van Sparrentak, who represents a district in Belgium where thousands of Twitter workers have been laid off since Musk’s acquisition took place.
Twitter’s controversial changes to content-moderation rules have also alarmed EU officials. Activists with the anti-racism group StopToxicTwitter say the company’s decision to reinstate racist and far-right accounts clearly violates the new rules. They also say the decision to abolish Twitter’s existing code of practice directly conflicts with new EU legislation that seeks to force big tech companies to take greater responsibility for hate speech and disinformation on their platforms.
