After a stand-off with the EU over content moderation rules on Twitter, Elon Musk seems to be giving in to the demands of the Brussels bureaucracy.
“If a law is enacted, Twitter commits to comply with it,” he told TV presenter Anne-Sophie Lapix during an interview, broadcast in dubbed French, on France 2.
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which goes into effect on August 25th, Twitter is considered a “very large” platform and subject to Brussels’ content moderation rules contained in the regulation. The matter is controversial, a complicated matter since Musk, a self-described freedom of expression absolutist, purchased Twitter last year promising to end censorship.
In May, Twitter refused to sign the EU’s Code of Practice on Disinformation, a set of voluntary commitments to cooperate with Brussels in its effort to tackle harmful and intentionally misleading content on social media. But, under the DSA, those voluntary practices will be mandatory.
As Musk made his stand against the EU in previous weeks, various members of the EU commission made it clear that Twitter would either have to play by their rules or not operate in Europe.
Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton and his team are now scheduled to visit Twitter’s U.S. headquarters this week to test the platform’s ability to comply with EU regulations, Politico reports.
During the interview on French television, Musk told Lapix that Twitter would comply with the EU regulations but go no further than necessary in moderating content.
Lapix also pushed Musk on his anti-censorship stance, showing him tweets celebrating the latest deadly migrant shipwreck in the Mediterranean. Musk said they were distasteful but would remain unless they cross the line to illegal. Lapix also challenged Musks’ claim that hateful speech had declined on Twitter by 30% since he had taken over the company with a report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue showing antisemitic tweets had increased by 105%.
The French journalist also asked Musk whether he’d like to become U.S. president one day. Musk said he had more power in his present position than he would as president.
