Twitter might be on a collision course with EU regulators. The company opted to withdraw from the EU’s voluntary Code of Practice on online disinformation, which is part of the Digital Services Act (DSA), just months before the EU enforces compliance with the new standards.

Withdrawal Syndrome

The Code aims to implement clearer reporting and enforcement obligations for large online platforms to combat spammers and scammers, as well as spread misinformation. As per the EU:

“Recognizing the particular impact of very large online platforms on our economy and society, the proposal sets a higher standard of transparency and accountability for how the providers of such platforms moderate and intermediate information. It sets supervised risk management obligations for online platforms that reach the largest audiences and pose the largest societal risks.”

All large online platforms are expected to abide by the new rules, with voluntary commitments counting towards DSA compliance.

But Twitter’s now pulling out, which immediately raised the hackles of EU market commissioner Thierry Breton. As Breton notes, while this is a voluntary element, the signal that it sends is that Twitter is not willing to adhere to these new, tougher obligations, which could see it fall foul of EU law. Eventually, that may see the company face fines and even possible suspension within EU member states should it fail to meet these obligations, whether or not it chooses to play along.

This has been a key focus for EU regulators within the Elon Musk era of the app. Back in November, shortly after Musk took over, Breton met with Musk to underline the expectations they had for the company. At the time, Musk vowed to play by the rules and meet any requirements. Fast forward to Feb, in a preliminary compliance report, EU regulators noted that Twitter had failed to meet many of its reporting obligations, with Twitter’s submission being ‘short of data, with no information on commitments to empower the fact-checking community.’

Fact-checkers have been a point of contention for Musk, with his view being that the Twitter community should decide what is and isn’t correct, via supplementary elements like Community Notes. Musk has repeatedly claimed that ‘mainstream media’ lies to the public, and that Twitter can be the antidote to corporate-funded propaganda. However, that stance could place Twitter in conflict with the EU’s new requirements, which will likely place more burden on digital platforms to police misinformation timely and effectively.

The Wrap

Musk’s argument around what constitutes misinformation may be the key point of contention here, with Twitter, for the most part, unwilling to abide by laws that could see EU regulators decide what’s true. Even so, Twitter could face stiff penalties as a result, with fines of up to 6% of Twitter’s European revenue should it be found in violation of the Code. Either way, it might be difficult for Twitter to adhere, given its massive staff cuts, which have also impacted its moderation teams. It’ll be interesting to see what stance Twitter decides to take, if it indeed is found to be in violation of EU laws in 3 months, and whether or not it leads to a bigger showdown for Musk’s free speech stance.

Sources

https://bit.ly/428e8KE