Twitter was only confirmed yesterday as one of the 19 major technology platforms subject to centralized supervision by the European Union executive starting this fall, when so-called very large online platforms (VLOPs) are expected to comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA). But the Commission has wasted no time warning the Elon Musk-owned social network that things are not looking good for staying on the right side of the incoming law.
The DSA requires major platforms to take steps to mitigate systemic risks such as misinformation, while breaches of the regime can result in penalties of up to 6% of global annual turnover. In Twitter’s 2022 revenue, that fine could amount to more than a couple hundred million dollars, with the caveat that the platform’s revenue may not hold up this year, given Musk’s erratic antics scaring off hackers. advertisers and alienating many users.
In a pair of tweets today, Vera Jourova, the EU’s vice president for values and transparency, warned of “another negative signal” from Twitter, accusing the platform under Musk of “failing to make the digital information space more secure and free the Kremlin #disinformation and malicious influence.”
His tweets cite a AP report on research by Reset, a London-based nonprofit that tracks the spread of propaganda by authoritarian regimes, which found that recent policy changes to Twitter have significantly amplified state-backed disinformation on the Internet. platform, i.e. Musk’s decision to remove state-backed labels. of accounts operated by authoritarian governments in Russia, China and Iran and also to lift restrictions on the algorithmic amplification of their content.
According to Reset’s research, Kremlin propaganda saw a visibility increase of around a third. The AP report also cites earlier research by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensics Research Lab, which found that Musk’s decision to remove state-affiliated hashtags appears to have reversed the decline in followers on many of the accounts.
“To me, this is a sign that #Twitter is not living up to its commitments to the Code against misinformation,” Jourova continued. “This is essential proof to show that they are serious about respecting the Code and, ultimately, complying with the #Digital Services Law.”
The bloc backed restrictions on two Russian state-affiliated news channels (RT and Sputnik) in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. last year. The move included not only bans on traditional broadcast outlets from showing the channels, but also a legal requirement that online platforms refrain from distributing their content.
At the time of writing, Twitter users who try to access the two banned channels from the European Economic Area or the UK (which also imposed limits) receive a notification that the account is “on hold” in 28 countries.
However, users can bypass the ban, for example, by using a VPN and changing their location to a country where accounts are not held. And if they do, they’ll find that as a result of Musk’s changes going back to previous anti-disinformation policies, these accounts are no longer labeled as state-affiliated or algorithmically de-amped.
Jourova’s comment regarding “respect the Code” is a reference to the EU’s Code of Practice on Online Disinformation, which Twitter voluntarily signed up to support in September 2018back when Musk was just a high-profile Twitter user, not its erratic billionaire owner.
As we reported at the time, the initial EU Code was a weak morsel to address what was then still sometimes referred to as “fake news.” But the EU went on to present a strengthened version of the Code. last summer. And while the mechanism remains voluntary (ie self-regulation, rather than legally binding rules), the bloc’s lawmakers have noted that the Code’s commitments will count toward future DSA compliance.
Ergo, on the other hand, failing to meet commitments to combat disinformation should count as a black mark. against DSA compliance for any registered VLOP, which the DSA says is required to proactively assess systemic risks such as misinformation and put effective mitigation measures in place while taking steps to avoid harming free expression .
The Commission will be technically empowered to enforce DSA breaches by VLOPs from late August/September, when a four-month implementation period expires for the first wave of larger rigs. So Twitter still has a few months to get its house in order. (Or, more realistically, pick up the pieces left behind by Musk’s wrecking ball and try to put back together a cohesive content moderation policy approach.)
Although there is actually a longer upside to the Code commitments biting, as the mechanism cannot be officially linked to the Commission’s enforcement framework for the DSA until after a European Digital Services Board has been established, which it is not expected until the deadline. for the entry into general application of all DSA provisions (in February of next year).
This means that Musk likely has until early 2024 (at least) to play regional disinformation agent of chaos, before any DSA-based grudge match lands on his love of ‘democratizing’ authoritarian propaganda.
That said, it’s interesting to see the EU go in so soon with public warnings to Musk about disinformation. Which may be a sign that the Commission feels it is at some risk here as well. No less important is the risk that Twitter’s presence as a continued signatory to its Anti-Misinformation Code while its owner is actively destroying policies against disinformation – and he himself has been accused of spreading Kremlin propaganda – is, to put it diplomatically, rather awkward.
The Code, which is self-regulatory, also ties the hands of the EU in that they cannot prescribe who joins or expel existing signatories for flouting provisions such as Pledge 18, to “minimize the risks of viral spread of information misinformation or misinformation. by adopting secure design practices as they build out their systems, policies, and features,” something Twitter was still technically on record for at last check.
Yet again, it seems hard to square a paper claim by Twitter that it is committed to reducing the risks of viral disinformation with Musk’s U-turn policy decisions on promoting state-affiliated propaganda channels; breaking the rules on COVID-19 misinformation; or just blow up the legacy verification system and replace it with what looks like an intentionally confusing mess where scammers and spammers are encouraged to pay $8 to have their content automatically amplified on top of non-paying users.
Given the lag between the EU Disinformation Code which was heavily linked to the DSA as a key mitigation measure, as expected, and the tricky dance ahead of the Commission to enforce the rules in such a tricky and slippery area as misinformation (subjective and often politically charged). the bloc seems to have decided it can at least make some noise by publicly denouncing Musk’s blatantly bad-faith approach in the meantime.
—————————————————-
Source link