Is Twitter prepared for Europe’s new Massive Tech guidelines? EU official says it has work to do
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Twitter still needs to do more to comply with the European Union’s tough new digital rules, a senior EU official said after overseeing a “stress test” of the company’s systems in Silicon Valley.
EU Commissioner Thierry Breton said late Thursday he had taken note of Twitter’s “strong commitment to compliance” with the Digital Services Act, which sets new standards that all of the world’s largest online platforms will have to comply with in just two months.
However, “work must go on,” he said in a statement after discussing the results of the voluntary test with owner Elon Musk and new CEO Linda Yaccarino at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.
Breton, who oversees digital policy, also meets with other tech bosses in California. He is the EU’s point of contact working to prepare Big Tech for the new rules that will force companies to crack down on hate speech, disinformation and other harmful and illegal material on their websites. The law comes into effect on August 25 for the largest platforms.
The Digital Services Act, along with proposed new data and artificial intelligence regulations, have put Brussels at the forefront of the growing global movement to fight tech giants.
The practice exercise tested Twitter’s readiness to comply with the requirements of the DSA, including protecting children online and detecting and mitigating risks such as disinformation, in both normal and extreme situations.
“Twitter takes the exercise seriously and has identified the key areas it needs to focus on to comply with the DSA,” Breton said, without giving further details. “Two months before the new EU regulation comes into force, work must continue so that the systems are in place and working effectively and quickly.”
Twitter’s Global Government Affairs team tweeted that the company was “on track to be ready when the DSA goes into effect.” Yaccarino tweeted, “Europe is very important to Twitter and we are focused on our continued partnership. “
Musk agreed in December to let the EU run the stress test the union offers to all tech companies before the rules come into effect. Breton said other online platforms would conduct their own stress tests in the coming weeks, but did not name them.
Despite Musk’s claims to the contrary, independent researchers have found that since the company was acquired by billionaire Tesla CEO last year, misinformation and hate speech has been circulating on Twitter. Musk has reinstated notorious election deniers, overhauled Twitter’s verification system and fired much of the staff responsible for moderating posts.
Last month, Breton warned Twitter that it “must not hide from its commitments” after the social media site abandoned the block’s voluntary “code of conduct” on online disinformation, which other social media platforms pledge to support have.
Combating disinformation is legally mandated by the Digital Services Act.
“When laws are passed, Twitter will abide by the laws,” Musk told France 2 TV this week when asked about the DSA.
Breton’s agenda on Friday includes discussions of the EU’s digital rules and upcoming artificial intelligence regulations with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company makes the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT. But a briefing for journalists was canceled.
The DSA is part of a major overhaul of the EU’s digital rulebook designed to force tech companies to clean up their platforms and better protect users online.
European users of major technology platforms will find it easier to report illegal content, such as hate speech, and receive more information about why certain content has been recommended to them.
Violators face fines of up to 6% of annual global sales – which amounts to billions of dollars for some tech giants – or even an operating ban in the EU of 450 million consumers.
Breton also meets with Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, the dominant supplier of semiconductors for AI systems, to discuss the EU chips law to boost the continent’s chip manufacturing industry.
The EU, meanwhile, is putting the finishing touches on its AI law, the world’s first comprehensive set of rules for the new technology, which has sparked both fascination and fears that it could invade privacy, destroy jobs, violate copyright law and more.
Final approval is expected by the end of the year, but will not come into effect until two years later. Breton has proposed a voluntary “AI Pact” to help companies prepare for adoption.
