Elon Musk's Twitter has decided to discontinue following an agreement in the European Union EU aimed at combating online misinformation. The decision by Twitter may mean that its owner, Elon Musk, is planning to close the Twitter site in Europe or he could end up paying large amounts of fines.
The new law, called the Digital Services Act DSA, will be effective in August. The DSA bans large social media sites from being required to monitor and flag disinformation, which was previously voluntary. The European Commission said that fighting disinformation will become a legal requirement under the DSA.
Twitter's EU industry chief, Thierry Breton, said Twitter leaves the EU's voluntary code of practice against disinformation. In addition, the DSA will require digital platforms such as Twitter to take measures against disinformation and bot farms, provide transparent warnings about political advertising, and support fact-checking.
Twitter does not have the authority to remove content, but it does require the platform to provide tools for users to report illegal content. Twitter may be subject to potential penalties under the DSA if it withdraws from the current agreement, which could result in a fine of up to 6 percent of its annual revenue imposed by the European Commission.
He has been a free speech absolutist, frequently making remarks against moderation.
The EU's authorities have warned Musk and Twitter that the platform could be banned from the EU if it doesn't meet the rules. A whistleblower revealed that Facebook and Meta, its parent company, prioritized profit over addressing misinformation and hate speech.
Considering the anticipated crackdown by the DSA, it's possible that Twitter may be able to depart from the EU as a whole, according to a source close to the news.