Twitter CEO Elon Musk continues to grapple with how his social media platform will combat disinformation with reduced staff. In early 2023, Musk met with Germany’s digital minister, Volker Wissing, in California to discuss whether Twitter would “voluntarily honor” an earlier agreement with the European Commission to combat disinformation.
A ministry spokesman described the meeting as “a very frank and lengthy conversation,” which ended with Musk reassuring Wissing that Twitter would not shy away from the disinformation fight. Politico reports in December, this part of Twitter’s agreement with the Commission includes preventing users from benefiting from misinformation, flagging political ads and providing data to researchers.
Ars could not immediately reach Twitter for comment. A ministry spokesman told Ars that “Federal Minister Wissing made it clear in his conversation with Elon Musk, among other things, that Germany expects that the existing self-commitments against disinformation and the rules of the Digital Services Act will be observed in the future”.
The DSA was implemented in November, designed to “ensure the online environment remains a safe space” while “respecting freedom of expression”. The European law first targets big social networks to ensure compliance, noting that they have a “greater responsibility” to protect users from risks such as “dangerous disinformation”. Twitter and other “very large online platforms” have until mid-June 2023 to fully comply with the law. Contrary to the voluntary agreement Twitter has reached with the Commission, a ministry spokesman told Ars that “Twitter, like any company, will have to comply with the rules of the Digital Services Act going forward. There are no exceptions here.”
“With the Digital Services Act, we have set clear rules at EU level to take action against illegal content, increasing disinformation and bots in social networks,” the ministry spokesman told Ars can safely use.”
The federal government will monitor Twitter “critically” in the coming months, said the ministry spokesman.
The ministry did not share any comments Musk made at the meeting, but said Musk called the meeting at very short notice – only confirmed the night before the meeting.
Musk has been criticized for his private use of Twitter in recent months –tweeting conspiracy theories from his account— as well as official decisions he’s made as Twitter CEO, like removing Twitter’s COVID-19 misinformation policy. For the past few days, the platform has continued to be plagued by trust and security issues. This week, a Washington Post reporter confirmed that Twitter’s revised authentication process for Twitter Blue subscribers still does not prevent impersonation, and Vice reports that Twitter amplified an “apparently fake tweet” about vaccines, leading to a targeted harassment campaign against a doctor.
Back in November, the European Commission’s Internal Market Commissioner, Thierry Breton, told Musk that Twitter had “great work ahead” to effectively combat disinformation, Politico reported.
As 2023 rolled around, however, one of the first changes Twitter made could potentially lead to more misinformation spreading across the platform. Earlier this week, Twitter lifted a political ad ban to stop the spread of misinformation and announced a plan to no longer limit the reach of “cause-related” tweets.
And Musk has continued to draw criticism for his personal tweets. Musk recently replied to a tweet the Politifact has since exposed itself for relying on “flawed data to claim that cardiac arrest is increasing in athletes” who received the COVID-19 vaccine. The Washington Post reported that the tweet was posted amid “COVID misinformation spikes” seen on Twitter after Buffalo Bills soccer player Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field mid-game on Monday. Twitter’s official response to this spread of misinformation appears to be lacking. There are currently no community notes on the tweet Musk replied to, which would normally help alert users to the apparent misinformation. Instead, Musk appears to be personally validating the tweet, saying the information is “certainly worth further investigation.”
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