Elon Musk's goal of reining in content moderation on Twitter after the buying the company may not get far in the European Union.
An EU regulator today warned Musk he’ll need to ensure Twitter follows new legislation that calls for stricter enforcement against hate speech and disinformation or risk facing a potential ban.
“Be it cars or social media, any company operating in Europe needs to comply with our rules —regardless of their shareholding. Mr. Musk knows this well,” tweeted Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market.
Last week, the EU reached a landmark deal called the Digital Services Act (DSA), which would require the biggest social media companies, including Twitter, to more actively police their platforms from threats such as disinformation.
Failure to comply could lead to fines in the billions of dollars or a ban from operating in the EU, Breton told The Financial Times in an interview. "We welcome everyone. We are open but on our conditions. At least we know what to tell him: 'Elon, there are rules. You are welcome but these are our rules. It’s not your rules which will apply here,'" Breton added.
Musk has yet to fully explain his approach to content moderation, making it unclear how far he’ll go to change Twitter's policies on hate speech and disinformation. But in a TED talk earlier this month, he said his goal is to ensure Twitter prioritizes free speech, but within the bounds of a country's laws.
“Well, I think obviously Twitter or any forum is bound by the laws of the country that it operates in. So obviously there are some limitations on free speech in the US, and, of course, Twitter would have to abide by those rules,” he said.
He added: “I do think that we want to be, just very reluctant to delete things. Just very cautious with permanent bans. You know, time-outs would be better than some permanent bans.”
In the meantime, the Digital Services Act still needs to secure approval from EU parliament and member states. It’ll then go into effect 15 months later or by Jan 1, 2024, whichever comes later.