Another target has been added to Elon Musk’s back after Twitter decided to cease enforcing its COVID-19 anti-misinformation policy.
“In my view, Twitter now is jumping to the front of the queue of the regulators”, Věra Jourová, the European Commission’s vice president for values and transparency, told POLITICO.
Twitter recently changed its COVID-19 anti-misinformation policy. The company has decided to stop removing falsehoods related to the pandemic.
In response to a question on the topic, Jourová said that Elon Musk “seems to want to attract a lot of attention”, adding that she believes he succeeded in getting a spotlight from regulators.
There’s a lot of work to be done
Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton videoconferenced with the Twitter CEO on Wednesday to inform him that the company is unprepared for the European Union’s planned overhaul of content regulation, also known as the Digital Services Act.
They both agreed that the European Commission would conduct a stress test at the headquarters of Twitter in the first quarter of 2023.
According to a Commission readout of Breton’s conversation with Musk, there’s a lot of work to be done. Twitter will be required to enact transparent user guidelines, substantially bolster content moderation, safeguard freedom of speech, handle disinformation and limit targeted advertising.
Musk needs the people he fired
The French Commissioner said he would keep an eye on Twitter’s development and stated that the company needs adequate technological and human resources to comply with impending European regulations.
Most of the firm’s content moderators and public policy employees have either been sacked or left the company since Musk took control in October. EU regulators are concerned that Musk needs more staff to uphold the region’s existing and upcoming content laws.