EU threatens to ban Twitter
The European Union is not happy with the far-reaching freedom of expression advocated by the new Twitter owner Elon Musk.
Strict European rules
The European Commissioner responsible for media affairs, Thierry Breton, has announced that he wants the strict European rules that apply to social networks to also apply to Twitter. The European Union has already taken controversial measures, such as blocking the Russian propaganda websites RT.com and Sputniknews.com for spreading what the EU believes to be fake news.
The most controversial part is the fight against “disinformation”, during World War II called “misinformation”. “Independent” fact-checkers must fight hoaxes and disinformation under EU rules. The problem is that this is often not possible, especially in the case of politically charged subjects, or subjects about which there are still many scientific doubts.
Initially, Musk indicated that he is very much in favor of implementing the European directives. The problem with these guidelines is that they require active moderation, which would require Musk to hire a lot of new staff.
Musk has far-reaching plans for Twitter. Part of these plans is an automated system with which the most problematic expressions can be rejected. Think of things like threats, incitement to violence or other crimes.
Heavy fines or ban from the EU
Breton further threatens that if Musk does not agree to the European rules, the European Union can impose heavy fines and block access to Twitter from the European Union. Of course, imposing high fines is only possible if Twitter is represented as a legal entity in the European Union and Musk has just now closed the office in Brussels.
Blocking Twitter is of course possible, as has happened before with these Russian sites, but the logical consequence will be that European tweeters will switch en masse to VPN.
