Because of stricter control requirements
Musk is probably considering leaving the EU for Twitter’s successor X
October 19, 2023, 3:12 a.m
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According to new EU law, social networks must take stricter action against misinformation and hate speech. That doesn’t fit Elon Musk’s concept. The owner of X, which used to be Twitter, is apparently considering shutting down the service in the EU.
According to a media report, Elon Musk is considering withdrawing his online platform X (formerly Twitter) from the European Union. The trigger was the tech billionaire’s dissatisfaction with the DSA digital law, wrote the website “Business Insider”, citing a person familiar with the company.
The DSA Act (Digital Services Act) obliges large online platforms to take consistent and quick action against, among other things, hate speech. X recently received a questionnaire from the EU Commission, which wants to know more about how the service meets its obligations.
The reason was evidence of the spread of calls for violence and misinformation following the attack on Israel by the Islamist Hamas. EU Commissioner Thierry Breton pointed outs, among other things, reports of manipulated images and recordings of video games that were passed off as real recordings. Musk showed incomprehension about the questions. There are high penalties for DSA violations.
According to Business Insider, Musk discussed making X no longer available in the EU or blocking access for users in the region. After buying Twitter for around $44 billion, Musk laid off more than half of the workforce. The teams responsible for content control were also severely affected. Musk, who once supported the Democrats but now represents political views on the American right, claimed that before the takeover, Twitter was too restrictive of free speech. He did not initially respond to the report – and X generally answers press inquiries with the brief sentence that they are busy at the moment. After the takeover, he suggested reducing the service only to the USA in order to save costs, wrote “Business Insider”.
The Facebook group Meta has not yet allowed its Twitter competitor service Threads, which was launched this year, to be used in the region due to EU digital laws. However, observers assume that the restrictions on combining data from different services under the umbrella of one group are the reason for this. The rules stipulate that the express consent of the users is necessary.