Elon Musk reportedly eyeing removal of Twitter/X from Europe over EU regulations
Source: Sputniknews 19.10.2023
US billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is considering removing his social networking service X (formerly known as Twitter) from Europe amid the European Union's investigation into compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA), US media reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the company.
Musk is increasingly frustrated with having to comply with the EU's regulation, one of the insiders told the media, adding that the entrepreneur has discussed the removal of the X application's availability in the region or blocking users in the EU from accessing the app — the way Meta* is blocking users in Europe from accessing its Treads app.
Musk has met with European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton at least twice this year about what X needs to do to comply with the regulations, but he has lost patience with the situation, the magazine cited one of the people as saying.
In August, the EU adopted the DSA — a set of regulations aimed at creating a safer digital space across the EU, which requires online platforms to have effective and transparent systems for content moderation and remove false, misleading, or harmful information.
Earlier Wednesday, the European Commission published a set of recommendations for member states to "coordinate their response to the spread and amplification of illegal content, such as terrorist content or unlawful hate speech," to ensure compliance by online platforms with the DSA and enable its prompt enforcement.
Breton said last week the European Commission sent X a formal request for information, which he called "a first step in our investigation to determine compliance with the DSA."
Last week, Musk and Breton had a spat after the commissioner said he sent a letter to Musk requesting a reply within 24 hours to claims that X is spreading illegal content and disinformation about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Breton informed Musk that if an investigation is launched into the presence of prohibited materials on X, penalties may be imposed up to 6% of the company's global revenue under the EU laws.
Musk then responded, asking Breton to provide a list of violations to let the public see them and underscored that the social media platform is an open source and is transparent.
