• Executives at Twitter’s Brussels office have been departing since layoffs started and now it’s reportedly a ghost town.
• Two executives in charge of compliance with EU legislation left the firm this week.
• These departures have stoked fears that Twitter will no longer comply with EU legislation as the platforms new owner reverses bans.

With Twitter executing mass layoffs under its new owner Elon Musk, then resignations after employees chose not be “hardcore”, the staffing numbers at Twitter are surely looking very low.

At least that’s the case in Brussels where according to reports, the entire Twitter office has been disbanded. The Financial Times reports that at the start of the month executives from the Brussels office left at the start of the job cuts. This week, the people in charge of Twitter’s digital policy in Europe, Julia Mozer and Dario La Nasa have reportedly left the company.

This is problematic as these individuals led Twitter’s efforts to comply with the European Union’s disinformation code as well as the Digital Services Act.

There are now growing fears that Twitter will not be able to effectively police its halls, bringing it under scrutiny from governments. These departures are especially alarming given that Twitter will reopen its gates to previously banned individuals.

In a poll conducted this week, the social media firm’s new owner asked users if the platform should “offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?”

This poll garnered a mere three million votes with 74 percent of those who participated, voting yes.

Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2022

We bring this up because the Digital Services Act requires that social media platforms moderate their platforms thoroughly, purging them of illegal content. With the Brussels office now a ghost town, and previously banned individuals returning to the platform next week, Twitter could be in for trouble.

As for the EU’s disinformation code, lawmakers are worried following the exit of executives.

“I am concerned about the news of firing such a vast amount of staff of Twitter in Europe,” said vice president in charge of the disinformation code at the EU, Věra Jourová. “If you want to effectively detect and take action against disinformation and propaganda, this requires resources.”

Of course, Twitter could rely on its US office, but as we’ve seen with the likes of Facebook, not having a local presence in a country can be incredibly dangerous.

Add to this the fact that Twitter has already shown it can’t properly police its halls when the Twitter Blue “verification” feature was used to impersonate brands and other notable figures.

Despite many holding the opinion that Twitter is doomed and days away from failure, the platform’s new owner appears confident he can make it a success. How he intends to do so and comply with laws around the world, however, is something we’re going to have to watch play out.