• Over the weekend, Twitter decided to pull out of the European Union’s Code of Practice on online disinformation.
• While the Code of Practice was voluntarily joined by Twitter, it’s exit does not absolve the platform from legal commitments.
• From 26th August it will be required to fight disinformation on the platform.

At the weekend Twitter followed through on earlier reports that it would pull out of the European Union’s Code of Practice regarding disinformation, which is a bloc it voluntarily joined in 2018, along with other technology companies.

As we saw during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic misinformation and disinformation were both rife on social media platforms, with Twitter in particular taking active steps to fight against it. This latest move, however, seems to show that disinformation is no longer a top priority under the Elon Musk regime.

The Code of Practice’s internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, took to Twitter to confirm the news of the platform’s exit, adding that its departure does not mean that it will be exempt from commitments or legal obligations down the line.

“You can run but you can’t hide,” tweeted Breton, which alludes to the obligations that Twitter will be held to account for under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which will come into effect on 25th August.

It therefore makes the platform’s exit from the Code all the more peculiar, especially as it will soon be legally required to adhere to a similar set of rules.

Currently the DSA says platforms like Twitter will need to, “Identify, analyse and mitigate a wide array of systemic risks ranging from how illegal content and disinformation can be amplified on their services, to the impact on the freedom of expression and media freedom. Similarly, specific risks around gender-based violence online and the protection of minors online and their mental health must be assessed and mitigated.”

“The risk mitigation plans of designated platforms and search engines will be subject to an independent audit and oversight by the Commission,” the DSA adds. 

As such, it looks like Musk it trying to pick a fight with the EU over the issue of content moderation, but at the time of writing it remains unclear what the full intention of this exit is, particularly as Twitter has not declared an intelligible (or grown up) response on the matter.

To that end, TechCrunch writes that, “A request for comment emailed to Twitter’s press office returned an automated reply containing a poop emoji.”

Whether Musk is willing to pull all of Twitter out of the EU over this, remains to be seen.

[Image – Photo by Sunny Hassan on Unsplash]