abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb
Article

31 Oct 2022

Author:
Politico

EU: Twitter will have to comply with new Digital Services Act, could face high penalties

"Europe to Elon Musk: Twitter must play by our rules", 31. October 2022

Europe has its own message for Elon Musk that it hopes will sink in: He’s about to face some of the world’s toughest online moderation rules and Brussels isn’t going to back down.

[...]

The Digital Services Act entered the EU’s official rulebook last week and allows authorities to order digital companies to take down illegal content based on EU and national law, and demands that platforms review content flagged by users. 

Musk — who is mostly known as the CEO of electric-car manufacturer Tesla, but now goes by “Chief Twit” in his Twitter bio — has repeatedly said he will abide by local laws, and stressed that no changes were made to Twitter’s current content-moderation policy. 

[...]

Going forward, scrutiny will shift from Musk’s Twitter antics to the platform’s revamped content-moderation policy — and how it will live up to the bloc’s rules, which will start to roll out gradually in the next few months. 

EU executives and lawmakers involved were quick to make clear that whatever Musk’s approach to content moderation is, it will have to adhere to Europe’s rules. 

“In Europe, the bird will fly by our European rules,” EU industry chief Thierry Breton tweeted — referring to a clip from an earlier meeting with Musk, in which the business tycoon said the EU’s plans were “exactly aligned with my thinking.” The meeting happened in May when the DSA was still far from completion and Musk’s plans to buy Twitter were already known but were about to run into trouble. 

[...]

Lawmakers involved echoed Breton’s line over the weekend, well aware that the law, after its publication in the bloc’s Official Journal on Thursday, now faces a crucial next phase: implementing the rules and enforcing them. 

Green MEP Kim van Sparrentak took aim at Musk’s promise to advertisers to show users “highly relevant ads” — referring to a provision in the DSA that rules out targeting users with ads based on certain sensitive data. 

“Musk says he’s buying Twitter out of charity, but at the same time, he wants to keep offering hyper-personalized ads. Fuzz stays part of the business model,” she tweeted — adding that under the DSA, targeting ads based on data like religion or sexual preference is no longer allowed.

Besides restrictions on targeted advertising, the DSA gives national authorities the ability to order platforms to take down what is illegal under their specific national laws, while also giving users the chance to flag content they suspect of being illegal — which platforms will have to review. 

Musk’s new “content moderation council” — which will have “widely diverse viewpoints,” he said — will have to take all of this into consideration. Twitter’s content-moderation policy also faces some EU deadlines: By February, it needs to disclose the number of its users. Based on the size of its EU user base, it will have to comply with the rules by either summer 2023 or February 2024.

[...]

Timeline