Twitter has pulled out of the European Union’s voluntary code of practice regarding online disinformation as the company’s owner continues posting content that could be flagged under a forthcoming EU law.
The social media site’s withdrawal from the EU’s agreement on disinformation could signal owner Elon Musk is preparing to cease operations in Europe entirely, Euractiv reported, as a new law — the Digital Services Act (DSA)— is set to take effect in August. The law, which establishes requirements for monitoring and flagging disinformation, would make the now voluntary agreement mandatory for large social media sites.
An EU official told Euractiv they were “waiting for this” and “it was purely a matter of time” before Musk withdrew from the agreement.
“Twitter leaves EU voluntary Code of Practice against disinformation. But obligations remain,” European Commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted on Friday. “You can run but you can’t hide. Beyond voluntary commitments, fighting disinformation will be legal obligation under #DSA as of August 25. Our teams will be ready for enforcement.”
The DSA, an expansion of the current voluntary agreement, will require large digital platforms like Twitter to monitor and demonetize disinformation and bot farms on their sites, offer transparent warnings about political advertising, and empower fact-checking. It does not require the site to remove content but does require offering users ways to report illicit content, The New York Times reported.
Insider previously reported that adhering to the current agreement prevents the risk of breaking the DSA’s rules — which could land a company with a fine of up to 6% of its annual revenue, levied by the European Commission.
Musk did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. Representatives of Twitter replied with an automated response.
Politico reported Breton had previously warned Musk that Twitter could be banned from the EU if it fails to abide by the rules. While Musk has withdrawn Twitter from the EU disinformation agreement, he continues to troll by posting content that skirts the lines of potentially being flagged under the DSA and another EU content policy regarding hate speech.
In a Saturday post, Musk tweeted a quote wrongfully attributed to the philosopher Voltaire: “to learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”
The quote is from neo-Nazi Kevin Strom, who was twice convicted of possessing child pornography, AP reported.
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2023
A step closer to European departure
The DSA became a legislative priority for the European Commission after the 2021 Facebook leak, when whistleblower Frances Haugen revealed Facebook and its parent company Meta knowingly prioritized profit over addressing rampant disinformation and racist hate speech on the platform.
Musk’s recent posts have included several references to alt-right themes and fascism, experts told Insider. In a recent post, he shared a meme including Pepe the frog and a caption featuring the word “fren” — an apparent misspelling of the word “friend” — a backronym for “far right ethno nationalist.”
“‘Fren’ is a term far-right actors commonly use to refer to each other in online spaces,” Cassie Miller, senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center told Insider in an emailed statement: “It’s typical of the movement’s attempts to make themselves appear innocuous — in this case, using a term that sounds like baby talk but, for those in the know, stands for “far-right ethnonationalist.”
She added that far-right communities commonly use coded words and phrases to mask their views from outsiders and create a sense of belonging for those who can pick up on their true meaning.
Such posts, and more extreme examples of hate speech that spiked on the platform since his takeover, could run afoul of the EU’s framework for combating racism and xenophobia, landing Twitter — and Musk himself — in hot water with the European Commission.
Combined with the anticipated crackdown following the August implementation of the DSA, Euractiv reported it might just be simpler for Twitter to cease operations in the EU.
Euractive reported the EU is a “somewhat secondary market for the platform,” and it is “becoming increasingly likely that Twitter may opt not to comply with the DSA, withdrawing from Europe altogether. Therefore, exiting from the Code of Practice on Disinformation might be the first formal step in Twitter’s departure from Europe.”
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