‘We Will Not Allow You To Turn Twitter Into An Open Forum For Haters And Trolls’
Maltese MEP Alex Agius Saliba described Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter for billions as “shocking” and warned the business tycoon that he would still have to abide by the new EU rules governing platforms social media.
After Musk bought Twitter for $ 44 billion, Lovin Malta sought the opinion of Agius Saliba, who is the vice-president for digital issues of the European political group S&D.
And the MEP did not stop.
“Elon Musk didn’t like the way he ran Twitter … so he just bought it!” said Agius Saliba. “$ 44 billion is not what you call a bargain, but it seems that nothing is too expensive for the richest man in the world.
Musk says he wants to ‘exploit the potential’ of the platform, including by removing content restrictions that he thinks are limiting freedom of speech and democracy. “
Today we live in a world where the super rich can buy platforms to change their rules as they please. @elonmusk #Twitter The purchase does not mean that Twitter could eliminate respecting EU rules or ending up as a hotspot for #misinformation u #hatespeech @TheProgressives
– Alex Agius Saliba (@alexagiussaliba) April 26, 2022
“Pretty hypocritical comes from someone who regularly silences his critics and threatens his workers.”
He said Musk would still have to abide by the law, which in the EU would mean following the Digital Services Act (DSA), a piece of legislation that comes to regulate social media platforms.
Social media platforms will be required to remove illegal content more quickly, explain their algorithms more transparently, and curb misinformation.
“In Europe, Twitter will have to abide by DSA rules that require social media companies to remove hate speech and fight misinformation on their platforms,” said Agius Saliba, who was key rapporteur on this forthcoming law at European Parliament level.
“There is no way around this! ”
🚀💫 ♥ ️ Yes !!! ♥ ️💫🚀 pic.twitter.com/0T9HzUHuh6
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
“It’s shocking enough that one individual can get a global service like Twitter alone. We will not allow him to turn it into a forum open to haters, trolls and plotters. “
In parallel with the DSA, the EU is also discussing the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a piece of antitrust legislation aimed at preventing technology giants from abusing their dominant market position. Agius Saliba was also the lead rapporteur on this proposal.
In recent weeks, the European Parliament and the European Council have reached a political agreement on both the DSA and the DMA, meaning that the proposal is now only subject to formal approval by both bodies.
This article is part of a series of content called European. This is an initiative of several newsrooms partly funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed on issues affecting their daily lives. This article reflects the views only of the author. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Do you agree with the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk?