Liberals worldwide aren’t happy with Elon Musk so the rats and intimidation surface. Both the European Union and the United Kingdom have threatened the platform with severe penalties if free speech is allowed. Twitter could be banned and sanctioned in Europe if he doesn’t comply. New legislation is in the works to combat the expression of opposing views. “Hate speech” maybe redefined.
Countries threaten Musk
The EU Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton said Twitter might not be able to operate there.
“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.’ Anyone who wants to benefit from this market will have to [fulfill] our rules. The board [of Twitter] will have to make sure that if it operates in Europe it will have to [fulfill] the obligations, including moderation, open algorithms, freedom of speech, transparency in rules, obligations to comply with our own rules for hate speech, revenge porn [and] harassment. If [Twitter] does not comply with our law, there are sanctions — 6 per cent of the revenue and, if they continue, banned from operating in Europe.”
Freedom of speech, as long as Twitter has speech Europe likes. A spokesman for U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was more vague, saying that “[regardless] of ownership, all social media platforms must be responsible. That includes protecting users from harm on their sites.”
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
Musk will be making changes
People already knew that. Changes maybe made abroad too. The EU has laws already in place plus a Digital Services Act that is pending.
The United Kingdom has an Online Safety Bill also pending. If they’re pending, language might be amended around what Musk does.
Musk’s statement
He thought Twitter could be so much more than what it is. “I think it’s very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech. Twitter has become kind of the de facto town square, so it’s really important that people have both the reality and perception that they’re able to speak freely within the bounds of the law.”
The EU already had an ecommerce directive. It was put together when Amazon and Facebook were young and was aimed at keeping abuse or lawlessness on the internet down. The Digital Services Act is geared more toward social media.
