Elon Musk Pulls Twitter from European Union’s ‘Anti-Disinformation’ Agreement
French Digital Minister threatens to ban Twitter if it doesn’t follow EU rules.
Big tech billionaire and Twitter owner Elon Musk has pulled Twitter out of an ‘ant-disinformation’ agreement that masks itself as an insidious censorship project.
Twitter has pulled out of the European Union’s voluntary code of practice regarding online disinformation as the company’s owner continues posting content that could be flagged under a forthcoming EU law.
The social media site’s withdrawal from the EU’s agreement on disinformation could signal owner Elon Musk is preparing to cease operations in Europe entirely, Euractiv reported, as a new law — the Digital Services Act (DSA)— is set to take effect in August. The law, which establishes requirements for monitoring and flagging disinformation, would make the now voluntary agreement mandatory for large social media sites.
An EU official told Euractiv they were “waiting for this” and “it was purely a matter of time” before Musk withdrew from the agreement.
European officials are behaving exactly as you would expect.
“Twitter leaves EU voluntary Code of Practice against disinformation. But obligations remain,” EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton wrote on Twitter.
“You can run but you can’t hide. Beyond voluntary commitments, fighting disinformation will be legal obligation under #DSA as of August 25. Our teams will be ready for enforcement,” Breton added, referring to the EU’s new Digital Services Act which takes effect in less than two months.
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.
Our teams will be ready for enforcement.
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) May 26, 2023
A French official was particularly stringent in his threats to the social media platform.
France’s Digital Minister Jean-Noël Barrot waded into a growing tussle between the European Union and Elon Musk’s Twitter on Monday, as he threatened the social media platform’s access to the bloc.
In comments made on radio network France Info, the minister said that the U.S. company would be banned from the EU if it refused to follow the incoming European Digital Services Act, which goes into effect throughout the EU at the end of August.
“Disinformation is one of the gravest threats weighing on our democracies,” said Barrot. “Twitter, if it repeatedly doesn’t follow our rules, will be banned from the EU,” the French minister added.
As someone who has been batting narrative-science-based information on a number of subjects, I heartily endorse this observation.
Sorry, but much of what is labeled "disinformation" later turns out to be correct or at best ambiguous (scientists often disagree). In these situations, labeling something as "disinformation" is in reality a censorship tool.
— Holtz (@Biorealism) May 28, 2023
Given the amount of flak he is taking, Musk is right over the target. Open debate, exchanges of a variety of ideas, and expressions of opinion are not “disinformation”.
When individual thought is seen as a threat, those who threaten it are the ones who are the real danger to freedom and liberty.
As we discovered with covid, and as we are experiencing with the climate crisis agenda, bad policy based on disinformation dressed up in narrative science is destructive, results in death and misery, and its effects can last long after the policymakers have left office.
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Comments
Musk is always 5 moves ahead of everyone else in the game.
When your opponent who is much smarter than you surrenders his queen, checkmate is not far away.
Popcorn please.
No wonder he pays billions of $$$ more in taxes than anyone else.
It is his business to run. He can either accept those content rules or reject them. If his company becomes liable with financial penalties, he can make whatever decision he decides is best for the company.
If he can limit who sees his products, then maybe the answer is cut off those Countries that require rules he disagrees with. Disinformation is a very subjective word, where I fully agree that yesterday’s disinformation is today’s proven fact.
Disinformation is in the eye of the beholder.
He might be planning a wide /main stream roll out of VPN / privacy controls which virtually cuts government and geographic censorship and control off at the knees.
Recall the encryption stuff he’s been alluding to?
It’s his only choice unless he wants the EU to own his company. Well, they may as well own it inside their territory if they’re allowed to control everything that’s said on it with fines and penalties.
Nope. Don’t even “let them own it inside their territory”. Just ban any and all IP addresses from inside the EU from the Twitter platform. Redirect them to a page explaining the matter and who to contact in the EU hierarchy to discuss the matter. And if Musk really wants to get nasty inform all EU citizens that their Twitter accounts will be permanently deleted at some clearly stated date. You know, so that Twitter does not unknowingly violate some obscure EU privacy directive. Bud Do not give the European Union bureaucrats any leeway. They say it’s their way or the highway. Musk should opt for the highway and do away with the EU. Chances are good nobody would even notice if they disappear.
How much do EU residents wish to keep their Twitter? Perhaps we will see whether EU residents are able to alter the course of their “betters” planned actions (or not)?
VPN, I guess.
EU governance is absolutely unaccountable to the people.
My expectation, and Musk seldom disappoints is for him turn this around to be a revenue play using the EU censorship goons as his marketing team.
“Miss Twitter? Contact Minister Therry Doubtfire at…”
B y the way, Leslie, you’re reversing your metaphors again:
“an ‘ant-disinformation’ agreement that masks itself as an insidious censorship project.”
I find the whole shift towards totalitarianism discomforting. The shoe is perhaps on the other foot sociologically but the underlying problem is the same. We are back to book banning and silencing “wrong-think”.
If I didn’t have to live through it I would find it amusing:
We have gone from Puritanism to Prurientism but it’s just as zealously enforced as ever.
I learned a new vocabulary word today. WOW! what a great description for our time: prurient
“Disinformation” is doublespeak for “scientifically sound,” lately.
If these governments had just managed to plausibly respond in a rational fashion to COVID, Musk might never have come to this point. But he became disenchanted with the WEF over their hysterical denial that population collapse has become a threat to our society, not overpopulation.
He is doubtless aware that the same censorship-happy French are right now engaged in persecuting Didier Raoult for his role in using Hydroxychloroquine to save people.
He bought Twitter, found a crime scene, and got an education about medical malpractice. The kindest interpretation of what happened in the US and France is that very political, non-technical people succumbed to the temptation to quell their rivals, succeeded, and fell victim to disastrous tunnel vision, just like the WEF.
Meanwhile, he has acknowledged that our entire societies are on a collision course with the careless programmers of AI, who have managed to create HAL.
He is not a Deplorable, but he is an engineer, much like former Attorney General Bill Barr, who repudiated all the complaints about election fraud, etc., until he read the Durham Report, First, he had to get slammed with a ‘whole ‘other world of information, from a source he could regard as credible.
I don’t say they’re winning enough yet, but that Basket of Deplorables never has been limited to old, undereducated, bitter white men, or even Trump supporters. If it had been, it would have dissipated, like the Coffee Party.
French Big Brother replies:
“Why? Because censoring disinformation has worked so well in making sure the people know the truth the last two years.”
anti-disinformation = censorship
It’s as simple as that.
Amazing how Musk can upset the right apple carts when needed. I kind of admire him for that 🙂
Here is a possible compromise: The EU will agree not to ban disinformation, if Musk agrees not to ban woke socialist hogwash. As we know, journalists can’t survive without woke socialist hogwash, so I think the EU will be forced to accept the compromise.
It is sad that so many Europeans have signed over their individuality to the self-appointed elite and unelected bureaucrats in the EU. Britain is a mess to be sure but at least they’re out of the EU. Not a single EU leader has been elected by anyone. They can now claim that they are smarter and more knowledgeable than anyone else and so can order these types of mandates.
When it comes to things like this I ask who determines what is dis/mis/malinformation? What gives them the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding to determine this? The answer is none of them have anywhere close to the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding to do this.
It reminds me of when Hillary was running for president, she wanted sensible gun control and stated that she only wanted to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. My question: Who determines who should and shouldn’t have a gun – Her?
“It is sad that so many Europeans have signed over their individuality to the self-appointed elite and unelected bureaucrats in the EU.”
Europeans? No surprise…
‘Royalty was like dandelions. No matter how many heads you chopped off, the roots were still there underground, waiting to spring up again… It was as if even the most intelligent person had this little blank spot in their heads where someone had written, “Kings. What a good idea.” Whoever had created humanity had left in a major design flaw. It was its tendency to bend at the knees.’
–TERRY PRATCHETT
Progressive hate threatened to join forces with digital hate in an authoritarian collusion with corporate interests.
That said, good for him. Good for us. Good for humanity.
“Disinformation is one of the gravest threats weighing on our democracies.”
=
“
DisinformationWrong-think is one of the gravest threats weighing on ourdemocraciescontrol.”If it were me I would set up servers in the EU to run it on their BS rules. Purposefully make it slow and unresponsive to users but complaint with the EU BS. Name the EU variant Orwell just for good measure. Then over comply by sending every Tweet from any govt entity official account as well as accounts of politicians and officials to a 72 hour hold for fact checking. Bring it over to Real Twitter so community notes can comment then append that note and the comments of users from Real Twitter and post it to EU Twitter/Orwell. No ability for the original poster to take it down either.
Can we draft you to run for president?
No thank you. To paraphrase Gen Sherman, If drafted I will not run, if nominated I will not accept, if elected I will not serve.
French Digital Minister threatens to ban Twitter if it doesn’t follow EU rules.
Oh, no! Anyway…
Oh no, they won’t “ban Twitter”. They will start imposing those fines they are so eager at slapping on any U.S. company (Twitter, Meta, Microsoft etc.) that they claim is not playing by the E.U. rules. Happens all the time. How else would the E.U. bureaucrats make their money.
So, no servers or offices in any EU country. EU Fines? Good luck collecting.
The answer is simple, IP block each and every country that might require enforcement of their retarded rules. If the people there work around it, (vpn), not his problem and he can simply ignore it.
Today’s young conservative Americans should name their first born Elon or Elona.
I think the caption is a bit oddly worded[?]
“Big tech billionaire and Twitter owner Elon Musk has pulled Twitter out of an ‘ant-disinformation’ agreement that masks itself as an insidious censorship project.”
Ant -> Anti, and should it be “that masks an insidious censorship project”?
The left hates free speech.
The left hates.
Aside from the totalitarian nature of the new law, I have an important question: who will financially benefit and how close are they to EU Parliament? It is obvious that if Twitter pulls out of the EU somebody will be there to fill the vacuum and obscenely profit.