By Zoya Saleem
May 31, 2023
French Minister for Telecommunications and Digital Transition Jean-Noel Barrot threatened Twitter with legal action, which could result in an EU-wide ban if the social media site does not adhere to new EU regulations intended to combat what Brussels views as disinformation.
According to Jean-Noel Barrot, minister of France’s digital transition and telecommunications, the European Union could not bear the risk of a network like Twitter.
The new Digital Services Act of the EU, which imposes new guidelines for social media, will take effect on August 25.
Two days prior to Barrot’s threat, the EU Internal Market Commissioner revealed that Elon Musk’s Twitter had withdrawn from the EU’s voluntary code to combat online misinformation, which other Silicon Valley firms like Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Google, and Microsoft had committed to abide by.
Since he acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October, Musk has often asserted in interviews that there is less false information there.
All websites that are found to be in breach of the Digital Services Act may be subject to fines of up to 6% of their yearly turnover.
Elon Musk, the company’s new owner, removed Twitter this week from the EU’s voluntary guidelines to combat “disinformation.” Twitter will continue to be subject to the EU’s Digital Services Act, which targets platforms with more than 45 million monthly active users, said European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton.
Image Source: Twitter
‘Free Speech’
Josep Borrell, the head of EU foreign policy, expressed concern in February that Twitter’s policies under Musk might undermine attempts to combat disinformation and manipulation, particularly by eliminating unfettered access to its APIs.
Major IT firms like Google, Microsoft, and Twitter signed the Code of Practice on Disinformation, which sets pledges and specific steps signatories vow to take to combat disinformation online, in October 2018 at the request of the European Commission.
By August 25, Elon will have implemented digital ID (user traceability), reinstated permanent suspensions, and decided what constitutes false information regarding Ukraine and Russia’s government regulations, gender ideology, climate change, pharmaceutical items
