Germany Reminds Musk That Removing Disinformation From Twitter is a Must

upstart writes:

Germany will continue "critically" monitoring Twitter for disinformation:

Twitter CEO Elon Musk continues to deal with intense scrutiny of how his social media platform will fight disinformation with its reduced staff. Early in 2023, Musk met with Germany's digital minister, Volker Wissing, in California to discuss whether Twitter would "voluntarily comply" with an agreement Twitter previously made with the European Commission to combat disinformation.

A ministry spokesperson described the meeting as "a very open and long talk" that ended with Musk assuring Wissing that Twitter wouldn't back down from the disinformation fight. Politico reported in December that part of Twitter's agreement with the commission involves preventing users from profiting from misinformation, labeling political ads, and making data available to researchers.

Ars could not immediately reach Twitter for comment. A ministry spokesperson told Ars that "in his talks with Elon Musk, Federal Minister Wissing made it clear, among other things, that Germany expects the existing voluntary commitments against disinformation and the rules of the Digital Services Act to be observed in the future."

The DSA was implemented in November, designed to "ensure that the online environment remains a safe space," while "safeguarding freedom of expression." The European law targets major social networks for compliance first, noting that they have "greater responsibility" to protect users from risks like "dangerous disinformation." Twitter and other "very large online platforms" have until mid-June 2023 to comply fully with the law. Unlike the voluntary agreement that Twitter made with the commission, a ministry spokesperson told Ars that "like any company, Twitter must in future comply with the rules of the Digital Services Act. There are no exceptions here."

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