Elon Musk’s Twitter faces a potential ban in Europe as France’s digital minister emphasized the need to combat disinformation — here’s what the tech billionaire has to say.
What Happened: After Twitter’s withdrawal from a voluntary rulebook that aimed to establish guidelines for big tech companies, France’s digital minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, has issued a stern warning to Musk’s platform.
He stated that if it fails to comply with the rules regarding disinformation, the microblogging site could face a ban in Europe, reported Deadline (via France Info).
“Disinformation is one of the gravest threats weighing on our democracies,” Barrot said. “Twitter, if it repeatedly doesn’t follow our rules, will be banned from the EU.”
A Twitter account attempted to answer whether Musk’s decision to withdraw was correct or not, saying, “It’s a lesser of two evils situation.”
The Twitter handle @TRHLofficial stated that the “particular problem is rooted in authoritarianism.”
Musk responded to the post, confirming that it is “exactly” the reason.
Why It’s Important: For the uninitiated, Twitter opted out of a voluntary rulebook encompassing guidelines for prominent tech companies like Meta Platforms Inc. META, Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL and Microsoft Corporation MSFT.
It is designed to aid compliance with the forthcoming Digital Services Act, which becomes mandatory in the EU from August onwards, the report noted.
Musk has consistently asserted that one of his motivations for acquiring Twitter was to promote transparency and uphold freedom of expression. He has actively sought himself as a proponent of reliable news. To tackle fake news on the platform, Musk introduced Community Notes — however, that also has some inaccuracies.
Previously it was reported that since Musk took over Twitter in October last year, the microblogging site has approved 83% more censorship requests from governments such as Turkey and India.
The tech billionaire responded angrily to this report saying that the platform never had an “actual choice” in the matter.
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