Freedom vs. responsibility? Musk and EU butt heads over online rules.
| Berlin
Elon Musk鈥檚 face-off with Europe started, fittingly, with a tweet. Having completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, he announced Oct. 28: 鈥淭he bird is freed.鈥�
The European Union鈥檚 internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, immediately tweeted back: 鈥淚n Europe, the bird will fly by our [EU] rules.鈥�
That exchange signaled the apparent collision course Twitter is set upon with the EU, whose regulators are behind the world鈥檚 most ambitious plan to date to govern what happens online. And ambition may be what they鈥檒l need if they plan to take on a billionaire with a libertarian bent toward speech, a habit of online trolling, and near absolute power over a global social media platform.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onElon Musk seems to want to run Twitter like a classic American forum for speech. There鈥檚 a problem: Twitter is global, and Europe plans to impose the responsibility it thinks such forums require.
Mr. Musk has personally antagonized prominent people and spread misinformation online. He鈥檚 let a number of far-right figures and others banned from the platform back on聽鈥� including President Donald Trump, Andrew Tate, and Jordan Peterson 鈥� after promising to install a committee to decide such matters. Just before the December holidays, he deactivated the accounts of a group of journalists who were covering him, only to reinstate some of them days later after online backlash. All are potential violations of the EU鈥檚 new Digital Services Act.
The DSA, which is meant to split the difference between an American view and the view of nations like Germany on how to regulate online environments, has been praised as the best of all the policy attempts so far to check the online Wild West. Yet the agile regulatory ecosystem it imposes 鈥� a framework that includes government, civil society, and users checking each other 鈥� is a year or two from being fully implemented. Twitter could be the first real-world test for checking the true power of the act, and its case will inform global policymaking.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to know what Elon Musk is doing 鈥� it feels like he鈥檚 trying to crash this thing,鈥� says Tyson Barker, a technology expert and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. 鈥淭he DSA is trying to create a kind of regulatory ecosystem for an extremely dynamic, extremely fluid space. ... They don鈥檛 want to be the truth police or a censor. They鈥檙e saying we need a trustworthy [online] environment, and trustworthy environments require clear rules and impartial enforcement. And that is exactly what you鈥檙e not getting with Elon Musk.鈥�
Benefits and societal risks
The DSA is Europe鈥檚 behemoth of an attempt to catch up with a world in which much happens online.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought into newfound focus the danger of online misinformation, as governments tried to get people to mask up or vaccinate. But even before the coronavirus upended society around the world, European member states could point to online behavior with real-life consequences, whether it was the rise of Germany鈥檚 far right via online misinformation and Islamophobic campaigns, or France鈥檚 2017 presidential elections being marred by information manipulation.
鈥淲hile online platforms offer great benefits to users, they are also the source of great societal risks such as illegal content or dangerous goods,鈥� says Charles Manoury, an EU digital economy spokesperson. The DSA will make sure platforms鈥� 鈥減ower over public debate is subject to democratically validated rules.鈥� The EU鈥檚 is that legislation must evolve to protect fundamental rights online.
Rather than mandate what鈥檚 legal or not, the DSA sets clear boundaries for the digital space in a variety of aspects, and then delegates the responsibility of regulation to an ecosystem of actors. That ecosystem includes researchers who 鈥� with newfound access to data provided by the platforms under the DSA 鈥� are put in the position of 鈥渂oth pathfinders and as quasi-auditors,鈥� said Mathias Vermeulen, public policy director at the data rights agency AWO, in an online forum hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
In effect, the DSA won鈥檛 have the EU moderate illegal speech, but instead requires platforms to report transparently on their own efforts. Platforms large enough to fall under its umbrella will need to assess all kinds of risks, including disinformation and hate speech. They must also hand over data related to the platforms鈥� powerful algorithms at the request of a regulator, a groundbreaking requirement that would allow scrutiny from experts in their respective fields.
鈥淔or instance, to what extent does YouTube amplify or recommend COVID-19 misinformation?鈥� says Dr. Vermeulen. 鈥淐ompanies will have to address these risks. They need to sort of identify, analyze, and assess any systemic risk related to things like design, functioning, or use of their services. And then we talk about this information.鈥�
The DSA represents a middle ground in governmental regulation of online environments. On opposite sides of the philosophical spectrum are the Americans and Germans. The Germans believe it鈥檚 the responsibility of government to regulate the internet, contrary to the American tradition that government should stay out of regulating such things as private speech. The U.S. approach is currently to place responsibility on platforms themselves to create rules and abide by them.
In other words, Mr. Musk is headed for trouble, say experts. 鈥淲e have to worry,鈥� says Annika Baumann, a social media expert at the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society. 鈥淭he actions he鈥檚 currently undertaken do not follow the intention of EU rules.鈥�
And while the DSA can鈥檛 be copied wholesale because of differences in countries鈥� legal contexts, certain aspects are 鈥渆xtremely admired in the United States,鈥� says Mr. Barker, the technology expert, 鈥渋ncluding the fact that it鈥檚 not looking to regulate speech. ... It鈥檚 looking to regulate terms of service and create transparency and create access to data and create accountability and risk assessments.鈥�
Its rules on access to data will be another area in which U.S. lawmakers are engaging, say experts. 鈥淚n the U.S., that is sort of a relatively bipartisan topic where both Republicans and Democrats can see the value and could agree on potentially one form of legislation,鈥� says Dr. Vermeulen, the data rights public policy expert. 鈥淚t鈥檚 accepted by a wide range of regulators that it鈥檚 really essential to gain more information about the potential harms or even positive effects of the use of a service in a specific jurisdiction.鈥�
A confrontation brewing?
Observers say that if Twitter continues as it has been under Mr. Musk, it will almost certainly run afoul of the DSA once it comes fully online in 2023 and 2024.
Mr. Musk has jettisoned half of Twitter鈥檚 workforce, including workers who liaised with Brussels and oversaw content moderation. Twitter鈥檚 heads of departments including legal, policy, and trust and safety have either resigned or been fired. 鈥淥ne of my limits was if Twitter starts being ruled by dictatorial edict rather than by policy. ... There鈥檚 no longer a need for me in my role, doing what I do,鈥� said Twitter鈥檚 former head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, in an interview following his resignation.
鈥淸Mr. Musk] laid off a large part of his staff that dealt with regulations, and his data protection officer was gone before naming a new acting one,鈥� says Dr. Baumann, the social media expert. 鈥淭hese are very important things to have for a platform.鈥�
Commissioner Breton a list of things Twitter needed to start with: 鈥渋mplement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and tackle disinformation.鈥�
Meanwhile, users rejoicing in Mr. Musk鈥檚 鈥渁nything goes online鈥� approach have spotted opportunities to engage in once-unacceptable behavior. Within hours of Mr. Musk鈥檚 takeover, the number of 鈥渧ulgar and hostile鈥� posts based on race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation . And just as winter approached, Twitter announced it would the spread of misinformation about COVID-19. Mr. Musk himself has tweeted content that would likely be in violation of European regulations, and also pushed targeted ads, regarded by the EU as a form of online surveillance.
The DSA has teeth: Violations can result in penalties of up to 6% of global annual turnover, meaning tens of millions of dollars for a company such as Twitter. When Mr. Musk arbitrarily suspended the accounts of several tech journalists who cover him, an EU official fired a shot across Twitter鈥檚 bow. 鈥淓U鈥檚 Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. ... There are red lines. And sanctions soon,鈥� , the European Commission鈥檚 vice president for values and transparency.
What鈥檚 groundbreaking about the EU鈥檚 approach is that most current attempts to regulate the digital space rely upon public-private partnership and cooperation. Yet governments don鈥檛 have the resources or knowledge to moderate content on platforms, and platforms don鈥檛 have the incentive or political will to do so, says Heather Dannyelle Thompson, manager for digital democracy at the Berlin-based research firm Democracy Reporting International. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why the DSA is a landmark in the absence of meaningful legislation from the [U.S.], the birthplace of many of the most prominent internet companies.鈥�
鈥淭here is room for them to evade鈥�
Still, there are potential loopholes for Twitter to take advantage of. First, the infrastructure of the EU鈥檚 plans 鈥� a central board, along with a national coordinator in each of the 27 member states, which will cooperate to supervise platforms and other entities in implementing the DSA 鈥� is cumbersome, with no real clarity yet on how enforcement will happen. 鈥淭he intentions are very clear and very good, but we have to see how they work out,鈥� says Dr. Baumann, referring to the work that needs to be done as a 鈥渂ureaucratic monster.鈥� 鈥淚n Germany alone, in one year, there have been more than 20,000 instances [reported to state media authorities] where this board would have to take actions. There will be a lot of work.鈥�
It鈥檚 also unclear whether Twitter, which by some reports has seen more than a million users leave the service since Mr. Musk鈥檚 takeover, will continue to qualify as a 鈥渧ery large online platform (VLOP)鈥� under DSA rules. Being a VLOP 鈥� essentially, reaching 45 million people 鈥� is necessary for EU regulators to impose some of the DSA鈥檚 most powerful enforcement tools. (The EU does have latitude to apply the VLOP label outside the reach requirements, however.)
There is also speculation that Twitter could choose to incorporate in an EU member state with looser regulation and enforcement, says Ms. Thompson of Democracy Reporting International. 鈥淚t鈥檚 currently [in] Ireland, but could be changed in a move of political maneuvering,鈥� she says. 鈥淣o one currently knows how Twitter will position itself. But ... there is room for them to evade.鈥�
EU regulators must also decide fuzzier issues, such as whether failing to enforce a clear policy combating COVID-19 misinformation constitutes a breach. And, so, the saga will continue to unfold.
鈥淚f Twitter is still alive and kicking in a year when all the tenets of the DSA come into place, and still behaving in this kind of very capricious way, governed by one person with no compliance officers ... they鈥檙e going to be in for a world of hurt,鈥� says Mr. Barker.
Mr. Musk has so far been quiet in January, with no blatant violations of EU policy. But he did tweet a prediction about 2023: 鈥淥ne thing鈥檚 for sure, it won鈥檛 be boring.鈥�
