Elon Musk threatens to block Twitter successor X from EU users

2023-10-19 07:29:00

Reaction to DSA law Musk is dissatisfied with EU laws – and threatens to block Twitter successor X

He doesn’t want to adapt: ​​Elon Musk reacts to the measures of the DSA law by threatening to block X for EU users in the future.

© ALAIN JOCARD / AFP

The new digital law DSA obliges online platforms to delete illegal content such as hate speech. Elon Musk is probably ready to take a radical step to exempt his Twitter successor X from the rules.

According to a media report, Elon Musk is considering withdrawing his online platform X (formerly Twitter) from the European Union. The trigger was the tech billionaire’s dissatisfaction with the DSA digital law, the website “Business Insider” wrote on Thursday night, citing a person familiar with the company.

The DSA Act (Digital Services Act) obliges large online platforms to take consistent and quick action against, among other things, hate speech. X recently received a questionnaire from the EU Commission, which wants to know more about how the service meets its obligations.

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The reason was evidence of the spread of calls for violence and misinformation following the attack on Israel by the Islamist Hamas. EU Commissioner Thierry Breton referred, among other things, to reports of manipulated images and recordings from video games that were passed off as real recordings. Musk showed incomprehension about the questions. There are high penalties for DSA violations.

Elon Musk wants to block access for EU users

According to Business Insider, Musk discussed making X no longer available in the EU or blocking access for users in the region. After buying Twitter for around $44 billion, Musk laid off more than half of the workforce. The teams responsible for content control were also severely affected. The tech billionaire, who represents political views on the American right, claimed that before the takeover, Twitter had placed too many restrictions on free speech.

Musk initially did not respond to the report – and X generally answers press inquiries with the brief sentence that they are busy at the moment. After the takeover, he suggested reducing the service only to the USA in order to save costs, wrote “Business Insider”.

The Facebook group Meta does not allow its Twitter competitor service Threads, which was launched this year, to be used in the region, citing EU digital laws. In the case of Threads, however, observers tend to assume that the restrictions on combining data from different services, even under the umbrella of a group, are the reason for this. The rules stipulate that the express consent of the users is necessary.

stz DPA