Thierry Breton just sent a message 𝕏 to remind the TV channels

Isn’t Elon Musk playing with fire?

Thierry Breton just sent a message 𝕏 to remind the TV channels. social its obligations in Europe. In fact, some time ago the EU passed the Digital Services Act, which allows for more effective control of foreign networks, sites and services available in Europe. One of the obligations imposed on these organizations is to moderate the content posted by their users. The problem on 𝕏 after Elon Musk’s takeover: he actually thanked many of the employees, in particular the vast majority of the moderation teams.

De facto, since Elon Musk bought Twitter, he has proclaimed himself a libertarian ideologue, taking an often stubborn position that some call “a lack of pragmatism.” Which possible by virtue of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, they cannot in fact be imposed on citizens of the European Union, who have their own laws and concepts of freedom of expression on the Internet. This is illustrated by the numerous returns of illegal or fake content about Hamas attacks and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Potentially explosive item that should be monitored fact strict verification and, at a minimum, explicit reporting of content with misinformation intent or even removal from the network. However, in addition to spreading false posts, 𝕏 is also spreading extremely violent content related to the conflict. What met therefore the network social in the sights of the Commission and DSA. In its legal notice, the European Commission criticizes the former Twitter for a lack of transparency regarding content that contravenes the site’s terms and conditions, and for failing to sanction sanctions on a consistent and “diligent” basis. Thierry Breton also reminds that 𝕏 is obliged to respond promptly to any warning or official notification emanating from the European Union. Moreover, due to the lack of sufficient moderation teams (and desire?), 𝕏, according to the Commissioner, there are no systems in place to curb disinformation and guarantee the safety of European citizens during crises, elections or major events.

After the Hamas attacks against 🇮🇱, we have instructions of X/Twitter is used to spread illegal content and disinformation in EU. Urgent letter to @elonmusk on #DSA bonds ⤵️ peak.twitter.com/avMm1LHq54 — Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) October 10, 2023

The letter is given 𝕏 24 hours to respond. In a sign that “the situation is heating up,” the letter ends with these words: “I would like to remind you that if, after an investigation, non-compliance is revealed (DSA, editor’s note), sanctions may be imposed.” This could take the form of a fine equivalent to 6% of Twitter’s global turnover, in addition to 5% of revenue generated per day of non-compliance. To this we can add the de facto blocking measure of shutting down the site and application in Europe. Elon Musk was quick to respond, but apparently he doesn’t really come across as willing to comply with European laws and tries to justify himself by saying that Europe favors an “open source approach” 𝕏:

Our policy is that everything is open source and transparent – an approach I know The EU supports. Please list the violations you are referring to on 𝕏, so public they can be seen. Thank you very much. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 10, 2023

“Our policy is that everything is open and transparent, and this approach, as I know, has the support of the European Union. Please list the violations you are talking about in 𝕏 so that public they can be seen. Thank you very much,” answers the manager 𝕏. Thus, the two men create the impression that they are talking to the wind in two completely parallel worlds. The fact remains that, no offense to Elon Musk, the DSA is indeed active in Europe and that the Commission does not hesitate to sanction US companies when they violate its rules. We can’t change it, especially with tweets, on the fly just to please the network. social which seems rather like a slippery slope at the moment; and since neither the DSA nor any other document operating at EU level reflects in its formulation the position of Elon Musk on his very libertarian and American concept of freedom of expression, the Commission is well placed to strike a very strong blow. Especially if Elon Musk does not respond to his requests in a timely manner and refuses to comply with planned procedures. Therefore, a priori no chance that the Commission publishes on Twitter a list of content that will be blocked on 𝕏 at the request of the entrepreneur.