The freedom of speech in the name of which Elon Musk has invested 44 billion dollars to buy Twitter risks colliding with the digital services directive just passed by the European Union. The border line was drawn by the EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni: “What is illegal offline will also be online”.
Basically it means that social networking sites and platforms will be responsible for the content they will relaunch and publish. Sure, Musk on Twitter was quick to explain that he means by free speech he means “simply what fits the law. I am against censorship which goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask the government to pass legislation to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people ».
What the EU approved was defined by the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, a “historic” step and provides for the obligation to put a stop to disinformation and fake news. With the aim of helping consumers. The Big Tech that will be found guilty of having transgressed the rules can be sanctioned with fines of up to 6% of the global turnover.
In short, Musk who dreams of turning Twitter into a ring will have to be very careful to overcome the confinement between hate speech and free speech. The European Commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, recalled how any company, “from cars to digital platforms”, operating in Europe “must respect our rules. Musk knows this very well. He knows the European car rules and will quickly adapt to the DSA ».