Brussels is showing itself to be more and more circumspect vis-à-vis the strategy adopted by Elon Musk with Twitter. While the multi-billionaire has been working to drastically reduce the social network’s operating costs since he became its owner, in particular with the layoff of more than half of the company’s 7,500 employees, the EU authorities are worry about the lack of staff to moderate content.
They are therefore asking Elon Musk to hire more moderators and fact-checkers to review user posts, according to the FinancialTimes who cites four sources close to the negotiations. This request should not please the new owner of the platform, who, in addition to having lightened the rules of moderation, has greatly reduced the teams in charge of this crucial aspect as part of the restructuring of Twitter.
Elon Musk prefers to bet more on an approach combining human moderation and artificial intelligence. But this is not enough in the eyes of Brussels which, through Commissioner Thierry Breton, has reminded the South African-born leader several times that he must comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA). This text aims to better regulate the operation of the platforms of technological giants, particularly in terms of disinformation and the fight against online hate.