“Twitter leaves EU voluntary Code of Practice against disinformation. But obligations remain. You can run but you can’t hide. Beyond voluntary commitments, fighting disinformation will be legal obligation under #DSA as of August 25,” tweeted Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for Internal Market, on May 27. The “DSA” referred to here is the Digital Services Act which requires Twitter as well as 16 other platforms to monitor the content posted on their services diligently. Twitter is yet to respond to confirm its stance on the code of practice. Besides Twitter, other big tech companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft signed the EU’s voluntary code of practice in June 2022. Why it matters: The European Union has been working on making the internet safe, accountable, and more transparent, reflected in multiple regulatory efforts such as the Code of Practice, the DSA, and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) as well. How successful it will be in achieving the aforementioned goals is debatable, but its attempts to regulate internet companies can provide other countries with guidelines on how to frame their own internet legislation. On the other end of the spectrum, Twitter’s reluctance to accept the code of practice is a departure from the accurate source of information, its owner and former CEO Elon Musk intends it to be. What does the code of practice say: EU’s 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation requires platforms to improve media literacy and provide users with the tools necessary to assess the accuracy, trustworthiness, and authenticity of…
