European Commissioner Thierry Breton took to Twitter to send a warning to the social-media platform’s new owner, hours after billionaire Elon Musk closed his $44 billion deal for the company.
(Bloomberg) — European Commissioner Thierry Breton took to Twitter to send a warning to the social-media platform’s new owner, hours after billionaire Elon Musk closed his $44 billion deal for the company.
“In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules,” Breton, the EU’s internal markets commissioner, said on Friday in response to Musk’s Tweet: “the bird is freed.”
Earlier this year, Breton had also reminded Musk that his free-speech focus on Twitter would be limited by the EU’s own content-moderation laws. Breton traveled to Texas in May where the two said there was “no disagreement” over their approach to content.
Read More: Musk’s Charm Offensive for Twitter Takeover Begins With EU
On Thursday, Musk posted a note to advertisers seeking to reassure them he doesn’t want Twitter to become a “free-for-all hellscape,” full of violent or dangerous posts.
The EU’s Digital Services Act gives governments more power enforce rules governing how tech companies moderate content and to decide when they must take down illegal content. If Musk doesn’t comply, Twitter will face fines of as much as 6% of annual sales and could even be banned.
Musk completed the deal late Thursday, changing the executive ranks and taking over as chief executive officer, people familiar with the matter said. Musk also intends to do away with permanent bans on users because he doesn’t believe in lifelong prohibitions, potentially allowing people such as former US President Donald Trump to rejoin, one of the people said.
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