EU COMMISSIONER
Twitter to leave EU pact against disinformation
According to EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, the short messaging service Twitter will withdraw from the voluntary EU agreement that all major industry players had agreed with the EU against the spread of disinformation on online networks. There is no comment from Twitter on this yet.
Online since today, 10.00 a.m.
The company can not hide from EU regulations, tweeted Breton on Saturday night. "But the obligations remain. You can run away, but you can't hide." He said that beyond the voluntary commitments, there will be a legal requirement under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) from Aug. 25. Violations can cost companies fines of up to six percent of their global turnover.
"Our teams will be prepared for enforcement," Breton stressed. That law provides for respect for media freedom and fundamental rights. It had been passed by the EU Parliament last year and is intended to regulate especially the large online corporations in the EU more strongly.
Users as fact checkers
EU sources had already said on Thursday that US billionaire Elon Musk's company had notified the EU Commission of its intention to withdraw from the voluntary agreement. However, there had not yet been any official communication on the matter. Twitter had argued that it would rather rely on its users than on fact-checkers.
Twitter responded as usual to press inquiries from AP, for example, with an automatic reply without further comment. A request for comment from the news platform "Politico" was answered with a "poop" emoji, according to the report.
New rules under Musk
Since his takeover of Twitter last October, Musk had laid off many employees responsible for moderating content and communicating with Brussels. Musk also had users reinstated who had been banned for spreading disinformation. This included former U.S. President Donald Trump. He also rolled back previous rules to combat misinformation and messed up the verification system and content moderation guidelines.
Musk always stressed removing what he considered too many restrictions on freedom of expression on the platform. Just over two weeks ago, he had announced that he was putting the chief post at Twitter in the hands of advertising expert Linda Yaccarino after a chaotic six months.
Tech giants committed themselves
The code of conduct to combat disinformation in the major Internet platforms was written by the industry companies themselves and agreed with the EU in 2018 and tightened last year. In addition to companies from the advertising industry, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and, since 2020, TikTok had committed to comply with it. The goal is to track political advertising and stop the monetization of disinformation.
The code requires regular progress reports with data on lost advertising revenue from disinformation actors. In addition, information must be provided on the number or value of accepted or rejected political ads, as well as identified manipulative behaviors.
Signs that Twitter was unwilling to comply with its obligations under the EU Code of Conduct have been around for some time. Just earlier this year, the EU Commission reprimanded Twitter for failing to provide a full report under the code.
red, ORF.at/agencies
S | A
Online since today, 10.00 a.m.
The company can not hide from EU regulations, tweeted Breton on Saturday night. "But the obligations remain. You can run away, but you can't hide." He said that beyond the voluntary commitments, there will be a legal requirement under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) from Aug. 25. Violations can cost companies fines of up to six percent of their global turnover.
"Our teams will be prepared for enforcement," Breton stressed. That law provides for respect for media freedom and fundamental rights. It had been passed by the EU Parliament last year and is intended to regulate especially the large online corporations in the EU more strongly.
Users as fact checkers
EU sources had already said on Thursday that US billionaire Elon Musk's company had notified the EU Commission of its intention to withdraw from the voluntary agreement. However, there had not yet been any official communication on the matter. Twitter had argued that it would rather rely on its users than on fact-checkers.
Twitter responded as usual to press inquiries from AP, for example, with an automatic reply without further comment. A request for comment from the news platform "Politico" was answered with a "poop" emoji, according to the report.
New rules under Musk
Since his takeover of Twitter last October, Musk had laid off many employees responsible for moderating content and communicating with Brussels. Musk also had users reinstated who had been banned for spreading disinformation. This included former U.S. President Donald Trump. He also rolled back previous rules to combat misinformation and messed up the verification system and content moderation guidelines.
Musk always stressed removing what he considered too many restrictions on freedom of expression on the platform. Just over two weeks ago, he had announced that he was putting the chief post at Twitter in the hands of advertising expert Linda Yaccarino after a chaotic six months.
Tech giants committed themselves
The code of conduct to combat disinformation in the major Internet platforms was written by the industry companies themselves and agreed with the EU in 2018 and tightened last year. In addition to companies from the advertising industry, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and, since 2020, TikTok had committed to comply with it. The goal is to track political advertising and stop the monetization of disinformation.
The code requires regular progress reports with data on lost advertising revenue from disinformation actors. In addition, information must be provided on the number or value of accepted or rejected political ads, as well as identified manipulative behaviors.
Signs that Twitter was unwilling to comply with its obligations under the EU Code of Conduct have been around for some time. Just earlier this year, the EU Commission reprimanded Twitter for failing to provide a full report under the code.
red, ORF.at/agencies
S | A
