Status: 03.12.2022 12:39 p.m
EU Internal Market Commissioner Breton has warned the Twitter news service to comply with EU guidelines. On the other hand, the platform is threatened with shutdown. “We will do the same if it becomes necessary,” said Breton.
With a view to compliance with EU law, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton has threatened the short message service Twitter with fines and other measures. “It is very clear: if Twitter does not comply with these rules, we can impose fines. And if the rule violations continue, we can shut down the platform in Europe,” Breton told the newspapers of the Funke media group and the French newspaper “Ouest- France”.
Nobody should be deceived. “We will do the same if it becomes necessary. That is what our great democracy wants,” he said. “We’ve been following what’s happening on Twitter very closely since Elon Musk took over,” Breton said, announcing that there would be another meeting between him and Twitter boss Musk before Christmas.
Twitter must comply with upcoming EU laws
Breton also referred to the EU laws on digital markets and digital services that are due to come into force next year. These offer “effective instruments to curb the spread of lies and hatred”. Twitter must meet these criteria if it wants to continue operating in the European market.
The law on digital services was passed by the EU Parliament last year to regulate online services in the EU more closely. The requirements will apply from mid-February 2024 – earlier for particularly large platforms.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had a “clear and honest” conversation with Musk during a US trip on Friday. Macron said he raised concerns about content moderation on the influential platform during the call in New Orleans. “Transparent user policies, a significant strengthening of content moderation and protection of freedom of expression: Twitter must strive to comply with European regulations.”
Musk had always emphasized that what he saw as excessive restrictions on freedom of expression on the platform should be removed. Among other things, the billionaire released some previously blocked accounts. Critics fear that he could encourage hate speech and hate speech.