The EU Commission has drawn up a corresponding code of conduct to combat disinformation on the Internet. While these rules are voluntary, they are largely followed by the operators of major online platforms such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok. Twitter has also been involved so far, but according to various reports, it will no longer appear as of next week.
Twitter has therefore informed the EU Commission that the platform is seriously considering withdrawing from the voluntary code of conduct against fake news. This is reported independently by both Politico and Euractiv. A final decision on this should be made in the course of the next week if Elon Musk officially approves this as the “Chief Twit” who is still responsible. In about four weeks, Linda Yaccarino, who Musk recently appointed as the new Twitter boss, will take over.
Criticism of Twitter’s transparency report
According to an EU official who wished to remain anonymous, Twitter’s withdrawal from the EU’s code of conduct on combating disinformation is only a matter of time. That would also make the work of the EU Commission easier, because Twitter hardly keeps the transparency promises, as emerged from reports by the online platforms on the code of conduct earlier this year. While other operators showed how many fake accounts were created and used or how fact checks affected the spread of disinformation, Twitter’s report contained little data.
This is not surprising, since Elon Musk laid off thousands of employees after taking over Twitter and uses “Community Notes” instead of moderators to check tweets. Twitter users comment on other tweets themselves and make corrections if necessary. Despite this, Elon Musk assured the EU Commission, after a number of warnings, that national legislation would be complied with. In addition, Twitter wants to comply with some of the new EU rules of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in advance.
Withdrawal from Europe as the next step?
However, the EU code of conduct against disinformation is just a voluntary precursor to the DSA and Twitter, as a major online platform, is required to comply with these laws for digital services within the EU. Active moderation is also required for this. There could be severe penalties if Twitter does not comply with EU law. The EU could demand up to six percent of global annual sales. If the problems are not fixed, there could be periodic penalties that add up.
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Therefore, a waiver of compliance with the voluntary rules of the EU code of conduct against fake news is seen as a likely first step for Twitter in withdrawing from Europe. If Twitter really sees Europe as just a secondary market and compliance with the Digital Services Act is not possible for Twitter due to a lack of resources, this would be the logical consequence.
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