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☆ Exclusive: EU industry chief Breton to hold video call with Twitter's Musk - EU official
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 31 (Reuters) - EU industry chief Thierry Breton will hold a video call with Twitter owner Elon Musk on Tuesday to discuss two key EU tech initiatives, a European Commission official said on Tuesday. "The call is to discuss Twitter's implementation of the Digital Services Act and its implementation of the Code of Practice on disinformation," the official said. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Philip BlenkinsopOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twitter research group stall complicates compliance with new EU law
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Twitter signed a voluntary agreement in June with the EU related to the DSA committing to "empowering the research community" through means including sharing datasets about disinformation with researchers. The EU law would require platforms with over 45 million EU users to respond to EU-vetted researcher proposals. THE WORK OF THE CONSORTIUMThe research consortium was formed in response to backlash against Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Twitter had been preparing to disclose at least a dozen new datasets to researchers before then, the former employees said. If the research consortium is eliminated, "we will be returning to the 2017 era of limited shared communication about malicious state actor activity," said Renée DiResta, research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory.

☆ TikTok CEO, EU's Vestager chatted about data harvesting, spying
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 10 (Reuters) - TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew and the EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager discussed on Tuesday "aggressive" data harvesting and surveillance in the United States, the European Commission said. The short-video app, which is owned by Chinese technology conglomerate ByteDance, last month admitted that some of its employees improperly accessed TikTok user data of two journalists to try to identify the source of information leaks to the media. "At the meeting the parties also discussed GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and matters of privacy and data transfer obligations with a reference to the recent press reporting on aggressive data harvesting and surveillance in the U.S," it said. Chew is scheduled to meet Values and Transparency Commissioner Vera Jourova and Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson after Vestager. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Germany tells Musk it expects Twitter to fight disinformation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Germany's digital minister recently met Elon Musk to clarify what Berlin expects from Twitter, especially in fighting disinformation, since the Tesla founder took over the social media firm, the digital ministry said on Friday. Digital and Transport Minister Volker Wissing, who was in California at the start of 2023, told Musk that Germany expects Twitter to voluntarily comply with commitments to fight disinformation, a spokesperson for the ministry said. Wissing also told Musk he expects Twitter to adhere in future to the Digital Services Act, agreed by the European Union's 27 member states and lawmakers in April 2022, which requires online platforms to do more to police the internet for illegal content. "There was a very open and long talk," the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that Musk made reassurances to Wissing. The German government will continue to critically observe the situation at Twitter, added the spokesperson, who would not comment in detail about individual statements by Musk.

☆ Twitter layoffs continue under Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Additional Twitter employees were terminated Thursday as part of ongoing, rolling layoffs under new owner Elon Musk, including from the public policy and media and entertainment teams, according to tweets from affected employees. As part of Thursday’s layoffs, the members of Twitter’s public policy team who had remained following last month’s mass layoffs were again cut down by about half to around 15 employees, a former Twitter employee with knowledge of the layoffs told CNN. Among the public policy team’s responsibilities are working with outside advisory groups such as the Twitter Trust and Safety Council, which the company disbanded earlier this month. More than 100 former Twitter employees have filed demands for arbitration or are participating in proposed class action lawsuits related to the layoffs. In the meantime, Musk may be considering finding someone else to head the social platform, after Twitter users voted over the weekend for him to step down as CEO.

☆ Europe condemns Elon Musk suspending journalists from Twitter, warns of 'red lines'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Musk reinstated the suspended journalists early Saturday after a Twitter poll, but he had already drawn rebukes from the European Union and United Nations. “The EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. officials have also estimated they will add more than 100 full-time staff by 2024 to enforce the Digital Services Act and other new rules on digital competition. “The Digital Services Act is unprepared for this kind of problem, because it’s not designed for that,” said Downing, speaking of Thursday’s suspensions of tech journalists. “There was never a conception that journalists would be banned from Twitter, because that’s not what Twitter does,” he added.

☆ E.U. warns Musk to beef up Twitter controls ahead of new rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Musk has signaled an interest in rolling back many of Twitter’s previous rules meant to combat misinformation, most recently by abandoning enforcement of its COVID-19 misinformation policy. He already reinstated some high-profile accounts that had violated Twitter’s content rules and had promised a “general amnesty” restoring most suspended accounts starting this week. Along with European regulators, Musk risks running afoul of Apple and Google, which power most of the world’s smartphones. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen walked back her statements about whether Musk’s purchase of Twitter warrants government review. She declined to confirm whether CFIUS is currently investigating Musk’s Twitter purchase.

☆ EU Official Warns Elon Musk That Changes Are Needed at Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kim Mackrael | Sam Schechner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS—A top European official warned Elon Musk that Twitter Inc. would need to make significant changes to comply with a new European Union law governing social-media platforms and content moderation. Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for the internal market, held a video call with Mr. Musk on Wednesday to discuss the new legislation, called the Digital Services Act. He said Mr. Musk—who completed his purchase of Twitter in October—stated he planned to get the service ready for the new rules, but Mr. Breton added that more work would be needed.

☆ EU Official Warns Elon Musk Changes Needed at Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kim Mackrael | Sam Schechner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Elon Musk has made several changes to Twitter, including broad layoffs, sparking questions about its ability to comply with a new EU law. BRUSSELS—A top European official warned Elon Musk that Twitter Inc. would need to make significant changes to comply with a new European Union law governing social-media platforms and content moderation. Thierry Breton , the EU’s commissioner for the internal market, held a video call with Mr. Musk on Wednesday to discuss the new legislation, called the Digital Services Act. He said Mr. Musk—who completed his purchase of Twitter in October—stated he planned to get the service ready for the new rules, but Mr. Breton added that more work would be needed.

☆ Twitter must comply with Europe’s platform rules, EU digital chief warns Musk in virtual meeting
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter has “huge work ahead” to meet its obligations under the Digital Services Act, Europe’s new platform regulation, said Thierry Breton, the EU’s digital chief, in a readout of his meeting with Musk. European commissioner for internal market Thierry Breton (L) attends the weekly College meeting at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on November 9, 2022. The meeting between Breton and Musk follows an earlier discussion the two had in May in which Musk expressed support for the European regulations. In addition to EU scrutiny, Musk’s Twitter could also face additional pressure at home. Yellen added that it could be appropriate for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review Musk’s Twitter takeover.

☆ Musk plans to relaunch Twitter premium service, again
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON — Elon Musk said Friday that Twitter plans to relaunch its premium service that will offer different colored check marks to accounts next week, in a fresh move to revamp the service after a previous attempt backfired. Twitter previously suspended the premium service, which under Musk granted blue-check labels to anyone paying $8 a month, because of a wave of imposter accounts. Originally, the blue check was given to government entities, corporations, celebrities and journalists verified by the platform to prevent impersonation. In the latest version, companies will get a gold check, governments will get a gray check, and individuals who pay for the service, whether or not they’re celebrities, will get a blue check, Musk said Friday. It’s also likely to put the company on a crash course with European regulators seeking to clamp down on harmful online content with tough new rules.

☆ Twitter slipped on removing hate speech even before Elon Musk takeover, E.U. says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter removed 45.4% of hate speech posts it was notified about in a sample this year, down from 49.8% in 2021, European Union officials wrote in their report. The data was collected from March to May, months before tech magnate Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion and began loosening the site's enforcement even more around hateful posts. law, the Digital Services Act, threatens tech companies with fines in the billions of dollars if they don't strictly police their platforms. Musk has said he's focused less on removing hateful posts and more on limiting how often people view such posts — keeping them from going viral. officials said that they worked with 33 civil society organizations and three public bodies to notify tech companies of violations and monitor takedowns.

☆ The Twitter office responsible for complying with European misinformation laws has been shut down after Elon Musk's layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter has closed down its office in Brussels, the home of the EU, per the Financial Times. Its digital policy chiefs, who had been working to comply with new misinformation laws, left the company last week. The pair worked on Twitter's compliance with landmark Big Tech laws which came into effect in the EU last week. Vera Jourova, the EU vice-president who's in charge of the disinformation code, told the Financial Times she was concerned about the closing of the Brussels office. But now the Brussels office has closed its doors, Twitter's relationship with the EU will be tested.

☆ Twitter job cuts a concern as new EU rules kick in, EU justice head says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Reynders, who met with Twitter representatives at the social media platform's European headquarters in Dublin, sought clarifications from the company, a European Commission official told Reuters. "Twitter representatives reaffirmed the commitment of the company to ensure full compliance with EU rules. Commissioner Reynders took note of it and asked Twitter to translate this commitment into concrete measures," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Twitter has fired top executives and enforced steep job cuts with little warning following billionaire Elon Musk's tumultuous takeover of the company last month. Twitter's last two Brussels-based employees are no longer with the company, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Elon Musk reached out to EU industry chief to pledge content policing compliance
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Michel Rose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The exchange came after Breton took to Twitter to warn Musk about the new European legislation on Friday. "In Europe, the bird will fly by our EU rules," Breton tweeted on Friday. Companies will face fines of up to 6% of annual global turnover for breaches of Digital Services Act. Breton and Musk had met in May, and the two had signalled at the time agreement on complying with EU regulation. In a video posted on Twitter by Breton after their May meeting, the EU official says he explained the Digital Services Act to Musk.

☆ EU official warns Musk he'll have to 'fly by our rules' as he buys Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2022. A top European Union official had a warning for Elon Musk Friday about his $44 purchase of Twitter , telling the billionaire he will have to play by the rules. Alongside the Digital Markets Act, which seeks to curb the dominance of internet giants, the Digital Services Act is part of a bold plan by the bloc to regulate Big Tech. In May, Musk and Breton met in person, and Musk at the time said the Digital Services Act was "exactly aligned with my thinking." Musk, who has previously said he would reverse the ban on Trump's account, reportedly intends to scrap lifetime bans on Twitter users, according to Bloomberg.

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