Europe obliges Twitter to strengthen its means to respect the DSA
Twitter must strengthen its resources by August 25 to be able to comply with the new European legislation on online content, warned European Commissioner Thierry Breton after his meeting with Elon Musk.
EU pushes Twitter to do the needful
“If the technology isn’t ready, they need to have enough resources to fill the gap. I spoke about this specific topic with Elon Musk”Thierry Breton told the press, after a meeting at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, where the platform’s new general manager Linda Yaccarino was also present.
The EU commissioner is currently in California to ensure web giants like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are ready to comply with the Digital Services Act, which will begin to take effect in late 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 claims to have insisted with Twitter, on the “a few critical areas (…) immediately when the regulation will be applicable”, during this meeting which Elon Musk attended by videoconference from New York. It’s about “especially anything related to child abuse, which is a very hot topic for us in Europe, as well as misinformation during elections”.
A stress test carried out
The visit of the European Commissioner to Twitter allowed a team from the European Union to carry out a stress test to check if the platform is ready, which many observers doubt. Because Elon Musk has triggered a massive wave of layoffs that has decimated the moderation teams. Despite this, Elon Musk assured last week in Paris that Twitter intends to comply with the new European regulations.
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.
