Twitter must strengthen its resources by August 25 to be able to comply with ambitious new European legislation on online content, European Commissioner Thierry Breton warned Thursday after his meeting with Elon Musk. “If the technology isn’t ready, they need to have enough resources to close the gap. I spoke about this specific topic with Elon Musk,” the EU press commissioner said after a meeting at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, where the platform’s new chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, was also present.
The EU commissioner is currently in California to ensure that web giants, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, are ready to comply with the Digital Services Act, which will begin to take effect at the end of August. This text is one of the most ambitious regulations in terms of controlling online content since the advent of social networks. It imposes a long list of rules on platforms, marketplaces and search engines, such as the obligation to act “promptly” to remove any illegal or harmful content as soon as the platform becomes aware of it.
Thierry Breton said he insisted with Twitter on “a few critical areas”, during this meeting which Elon Musk attended by videoconference from New York. This is “in particular anything to do with child abuse, which is a very hot topic for us in Europe, as well as misinformation during elections”.
The former French finance minister must also meet Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta, to ensure the compliance of Facebook and Instagram. But it is his conversation with Elon Musk that draws all the attention, because the new owner of Twitter defends almost unlimited freedom of expression, including when the content is offensive or fuels disinformation, in defiance of European rules.
The EU Commissioner’s visit to Twitter allowed an EU team to perform a “stress test” to check if the platform is ready, something many observers doubt. Because Elon Musk started a massive wave of layoffs, which decimated the moderation teams. Despite this, the owner of the “blue bird” assured last week in Paris that Twitter intends to comply with the new European regulations.
“I’m not here to tell the company what to do,” said the European Commissioner. I am the regulator and I have to tell them what the law is. On the commissioner’s advice, the TikTok platform – which is owned by China’s ByteDance and is currently raising questions over its possible reliance on Beijing’s power – also agreed to submit to a mock audit in July. This type of test makes it possible to verify that the platforms are operating correctly before the entry into force of the text, without consequences in the event of an infringement.
Because the DSA law offers very strict regulations. Like the European rules on data protection (RGPD), it could become a reference in the world, while many governments are trying to regulate the excesses of the Web. To answer it, Twitter, Meta, TikTok and other platforms will have to invest, in a significant way, in employees and dedicated technologies. Just when several major players in the sector have just made massive layoffs, including within their moderation teams.
Brussels unveiled, in April, the list of nineteen very large online platforms and search engines, which must submit to reinforced controls from August 25. With this new text, they will have to provide officials and researchers with unprecedented access to their algorithms and their decisions in terms of content moderation.
For the moment, Meta strongly limits access to this data since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, while Twitter and Reddit have set up high tariffs likely to dissuade certain researchers. The DSA also grants more rights to users who believe they have been unjustly censored. Platforms could be fined up to 6% of their global turnover for failing to comply with the law, or even an outright ban in Europe for repeated violations.