European Union Official Already Targeting Elon Musk With Threat: ‘It’s Not Your Rules Which Will Apply Here’
Elon Musk now owns Twitter after the social media platform accepted his $44 billion bid on April 25. But the European Union has already warned Musk that they will not allow him to play by his own rules in Europe. After…
👤Elon Musk now owns 🐦Twitter after the 📱Social media platform accepted his $44 billion bid on April 25. But the 🇪🇺European Union has already warned Musk that they will not allow him to play by his own rules in 🌍Europe.
After acquiring 🐦Twitter, Musk released a statement that he plans to make 🐦Twitter “better than ever,” CNN reported.
“
Sponsored
🗣️Free Speech
is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and
🐦Twitter
is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in the statement. “
🐦Twitter
has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
But Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for the internal market, responded to Musk’s aspirations with a warning that 🐦Twitter would be fined or even banned if it does not follow the EU’s regulations and rules, the Financial Times reported.
Breton said he wanted offer Musk a “reality check” on his big ideas for 🗣️Free Speech.
“We welcome everyone. We are open but on our conditions. At least we know what to tell him: ‘Elon, there are rules. You are welcome, but these are our rules. It’s not your rules which will apply here,'” Breton said.
Just a few days before Musk’s deal went through, the EU enacted a new piece of legislation forcing Big Tech to more aggressively 🚓Police online content.
The Digital Services Act, which will begin to be enforced in a few months, is an update to the EU’s 20-year-old e-commerce directive, Euro News reported.
The original directive was born when tech giants like 📘Facebook and 📦Amazon were in their early stages and the aim is to end abuse or lawlessness on the 🌐Internet.
The new regulations of the Digital Services Act more specifically enforce that social media platforms have to “promptly” remove any illegal content (illegal as defined by national and European laws).
The new act also obliges 📱Social media platforms to suspend any users who “frequently” break the ⚖️Law.
Platforms will also be audited once a year by independent bodies and will be supervised by the European Commission, which has the power to impose fines of up to 6 percent of annual sales if there are repeated violations of the rules.
With these new regulations coming into place, Breton wanted to make Musk aware.
“Anyone who wants to benefit from this market will have to fulfil our rules. The board will have to make sure that if it operates in 🌍Europe it will have to fulfil the obligations, including moderation, open algorithms, 🗽Freedom of 🗣️Speech, 🔎Transparency in rules, obligations to comply with our own rules for hate 🗣️Speech, revenge porn harassment,” Breton said.
“If does not comply with our ⚖️Law, there are 🚫Sanctions — 6 per cent of the revenue and, if they continue, banned from operating in 🌍Europe,” he added.
Breton also pointed out in a 🐦Tweet, that regardless of shareholders, if a company wants to operate in 🌍Europe, they have to play by 🌍Europe’s rules and Musk knows this.
“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 tweeted.
