Twitter and more. What Musk and the European Commissioner Breton will say
European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton is in Austin, Texas to meet Tesla CEO Elon Musk and discuss his new role at the helm of Twitter
The EU recalls the new Twitter owner Elon Musk to European rules.
European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton is in Austin, Texas to meet Tesla CEO Elon Musk and discuss his new role at the helm of Twitter.
The platform, explained by the commissioner's staff, "will have to play according to the European rules", established by the Digital Services Act, the legislative package just approved, also with regard to freedom of expression.
Already in the aftermath of the news of the acceptance of Musk's offer of 44 billion dollars for 100% of Twitter, Breton had declared that the platform will have to "fully adapt to European rules".
At this stage, it's unclear what exactly Musk plans to do with Twitter. And the company's buying process will likely take several months, if not years.
However, the US entrepreneur has already called himself a "free speech absolutist" and says he wants to reform Twitter as a "digital town square" with fewer restrictions on what users can say.
This could have huge repercussions for the way content is moderated on Twitter, a key concern for authorities trying to curb digital giants on the spread of hate speech and disinformation online.
Today's interview will take place at 2 pm in the local time zone, 9 pm in Brussels.
BRETON'S CALL TO MUSK ON EU RULES
EU Commissioner Thierry Breton has already warned Musk that he will have to adapt to the block's new digital regulations.
"Whether it is online harassment, the sale of counterfeit products … child pornography or requests for acts of terrorism … Twitter will have to adapt to our European regulations that do not exist in the United States," said EU Commissioner Thierry Breton at the end of April. AFP .
Therefore “Anyone who wants to take advantage of this market will have to respect our rules. The [Twitter] board will have to make sure that if it operates in Europe it will have to fulfill its obligations, including moderation, open algorithms, free speech, transparency in the rules, obligation to comply with our hate speech rules, revenge porn [ e] harassment ".
DANGER OF FINES
So Breton warned Musk.
"If [Twitter] does not respect our law, there are sanctions: 6% of revenue and, if they continue, a ban on operating in Europe," said the European Commissioner.
OR WORSE
But Breton said he wanted to offer "reality check" to Musk's plans for less rigorous restraint. According to Breton, Twitter's non-compliance could lead to a ban on the platform in Europe, the Ft points out .
UNDER THE AEGIDA OF THE DSA
“Whether it's cars or social media, any company operating in Europe must abide by our rules, regardless of their participation,” Breton tweeted on April 26th. ”Mr. Musk knows this well. He knows the European automotive regulations and will quickly adapt to the Digital Services Act ”.
The Digital Services Act regulatory package is expected to go into effect as early as 2024. Companies that do not abide by the rules face fines of up to 6% of their global annual revenues – just over $ 300 million for a company like Twitter. based on 2021 sales figures .
Be it cars or social media, any company operating in Europe needs to comply with our rules – regardless of their shareholding.
Mr Musk knows this well.
He is familiar with European rules on automotive, and will quickly adapt to the Digital Services Act. #DSA
– Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) April 26, 2022
THE BRETON IN TEXAS AGENDA
Finally, let's go back to Breton's schedule in Texas.
At the top will also be the security of supply chains in tech, with a focus on microchips, batteries and raw materials, data and artificial intelligence. In the Texan capital, Breton will also meet Dell's CEO, Michal Dell. The round of meetings comes one week before the next EU-US Council for Technology and Trade, to be held in Paris on May 16. Texas, they recall from Brussels, plays an important role in the global supply chain of chips, with large manufacturers such as Applied Materials, and customers, Dell, Tesla above all.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/twitter-e-non-solo-cosa-si-diranno-musk-e-il-commissario-europeo-breton/ on Mon, 09 May 2022 13:47:06 +0000.