EU raises prospect of big fine or ban if Twitter fails to follow new legislation

WORLD  04 December 2022 - 02:57

The EU has raised the prospect of a substantial fine or ban for Twitter after warning that it must “significantly increase” efforts to comply with new online legislation.

Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, was told he had “huge work ahead” to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act, which requires tech firms to tackle problems including abusive posts and disinformation, according to The Guardian.

The EU’s commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, told the Tesla CEO that Twitter will have to significantly increase efforts to “pass the grade”, implying that the platform was in danger of non-compliance with the act.
“I welcome Elon Musk’s statements of intent to get Twitter 2.0 ready for the DSA,” said Breton. “I am pleased to hear that he has read it carefully and considers it as a sensible approach to implement on a worldwide basis. But let’s also be clear that there is still huge work ahead, as Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech.”

He added that Twitter would have to “tackle disinformation with resolve” and limit targeted advertising, including banning profiling of child users for advertising purposes.

The Financial Times reported that Breton reiterated the punishments for breaches of the act, which include fines of up to six per cent of global turnover – which would be around $500m in Twitter’s case – or a temporary suspension of the service if refusal to comply endangers people’s life and safety. Suspension is described by the EU as a “last resort”.
Musk has fired half of Twitter’s 7,500 staff since buying the business for $44bn in October, with a further 1,200 reportedly quitting in November after he told remaining staff to commit to being “hardcore” or leave. The company’s head of trust and safety, who oversaw content moderation at Twitter, has also quit since the takeover. The departures, fears that Musk will relax content moderation policies and a botched attempt at relaunching Twitter’s verified user system have resulted in significant numbers of advertisers pausing their spending on the platform. Twitter has also announced that it is no longer enforcing its policy against Covid-19 misinformation.

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