I posted a comment the other day on the threat to Twitter posed by the censorship mechanisms contained within the EU’s new Digital Services Act.
Here’s a bit more on the EU’s attitude to free speech, via Politico:
Twitter’s decision to stop enforcing its COVID-19 misinformation policy has put another bullseye on Elon Musk’s back.
“In my view, Twitter now is jumping to the front of the queue of the regulators,” Věra Jourová, the European Commission’s vice president for values and transparency, told POLITICO.
“Mr. Musk seems to want to attract a lot of attention,” she added when asked about the Commission’s stance on Twitter’s decision not to remove falsehoods related to the ongoing global pandemic. “I think he succeeded in attracting the attention of the regulators, also with a recent decision not to assess COVID-related disinformation.”
Say what you will about the EU, the games it plays with language might have taken even George Orwell aback. “Vice president for values and transparency,” indeed.
The highhandedness of Jourová’s language is a reminder of the extent to which the EU is a technocracy. It is an institution within which the notion that a bureaucrat might have gotten above herself is almost impossible to imagine.
But the DSA won’t have much practical effect for a while.
In the meantime . . .
Politico:
Jourová, who played a key role in the EU’s efforts against online falsehoods, said she expected Twitter to “fully respect the EU law and honor its commitments” under a Code of Practice on Disinformation, first signed in 2018 and updated this year — including devoting resources and report results on fake news. “Twitter has been a very useful partner in the fight against disinformation and illegal hate speech and this must not change,” she said.
Ah yes, “disinformation.”
Meanwhile, France’s President Macron takes time from pushing the idea that Putin’s Russia should be given security guarantees (yes, you read that correctly) to weigh in.
“Transparent user policies, significant reinforcement of content moderation and protection of freedom of speech: efforts have to be made by Twitter to comply with European regulations,” Macron said after what he called a “clear and honest discussion” with the Twitter CEO in the U.S.
Doublespeak much?