Twitter quits voluntary EU agreement to combat online disinformation

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Twitter has decided to leave the EU’s disinformation code, a voluntary pact that groups together the major social platforms, but “its obligations remain,” EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted Saturday.

Launched in 2018, the EU’s code of practice on disinformation counts nearly three dozen signatories including the giants in the sector such as Meta, Google, Twitter, Microsoft and TikTok.

It also covers smaller platforms, as well as advertisers and fact-checkers and non-governmental organizations.

The code was written by the industry players themselves and contains over three dozen pledges such as better cooperation with fact-checkers and not promoting actors distributing disinformation.

“You can run but you can’t hide. Beyond voluntary commitments, fighting disinformation will be legal obligation under DSA [digital services law] as of August 25,” he wrote.

“Our teams will be ready for enforcement,” he warned.

Elon Musk departs the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Court House in San Francisco, January 24, 2023. (Benjamin Fanjoy/AP)

Since buying the social network six months ago, billionaire Elon Musk has relaxed the moderation of problematic content, which appears to have amplified the voices of notorious propagators of disinformation on the platform.

“If [Elon Musk] doesn’t take the code seriously, then it’s better that he quits,” a European Commission official told AFP on Friday.