Europeans were clear: if Twittermultibillionaire Elon Muskdoes not comply with the new European rules for digital services (Digital Services Act), he may face fines or even a ban on work in Europe.

Commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Bretonpresented European positions on a conference call with Musk himself last week.

According to what the Financial Times reported at the time, citing sources familiar with the talks, Breton signaled what in Twitter must, if it wants to comply with European requirements, clarify the criteria by which its users will be banned from the platform, take action against disinformation, and adopt an internal audit by an independent body by 2023.

According to the same publication, Musk introduced himself in the context of the aforementioned call to accept the European claims as “quite reasonable.”

To-do list

What Europeans are now asking for from “very large online platforms” such as Twitter is presented in detail on the official website of the European Commission.

“Law on digital services (Digital Services Law – DSA) includes rules for online mediation services used by millions of Europeans every day. All Internet intermediaries offering their services on the single market, whether established in the EU or outside it, will have to comply with the new rules.

But what exactly is it? obligations for a major online platform like Twitter?

In more detail on its website, the Commission states that businesses falling under this category will have to, among other things:

• They prohibit targeted advertising aimed at children and advertising based on certain characteristics of users.
• They cooperate with the national authorities in accordance with the orders
• They share data with authorities and investigators
• They work together to deal with crises
• They allow external and independent audit
• They report criminal activities
• They have contact persons and, if necessary, legal representatives.
• They have complaint and appeal mechanisms for out-of-court dispute resolution.
• They provide transparent reporting and reliable labeling sources.
• They take action against malicious notifications
• Below are the codes of conduct.
• They allow users to opt out of profiling-based content recommendations.

Next steps

According to the European Commission website, online platforms have a margin of up to February 2023to report it number of active users them. Then, based on this number of users, the Commission will assess whether the platform should be classified as too large (very large online platform – VLOP) or not. It is noted that depending on the size of each platform, its obligations to the European authorities are also determined. “Special rules are provided for platforms that account for more than 10% of the 450 million consumers in Europe,” the message says.

Then, after evaluating in terms of its size, each entity will have at its disposal four months (so from February 2023 we go to summer 2023) to fulfill obligations arising from the European Digital Services Act (DSA). During the same period, he was to provide the Commission with the first annual risk assessment.

It will be interesting to see if the number of active users of Twitter, which is expected to be introduced next February, exceeds 45 million (ie 10% of the 450 million users in Europe) or not. The Europeans seem to take it for granted that he will defeat them. However, other sources express doubts. Bloomberg argues that if Twitter manages to avoid being labeled a “very large platform” and simply register as a “platform”, then it could free itself from a number of “commitments” that the EU now wants to impose on it.

However, if you compare the obligations of the platforms and the very large platforms listed on the Commission’s website, you can see differences, but this does not mean that simple platforms do not have obligations. On the contrary, out of 19 items, 13 are common to both categories.

Code of Good Practice

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the new one is also being promoted at the European level. strengthened code of best practice on disinformationto which all the “big ones” on the Internet (Twitter, META, Microsoft, Google, etc.) are even submitted for subscription, which must send the relevant reports on their work (performance reports) to the European Commission by January 2023. .

Stations 2023

Thus, and based on the foregoing, Twitter from Mask has at least three scheduled “meetings” with European authorities in 2023: January (code of good practice on disinformation), February (specify the number of active users) and then summer (compliance with the obligations arising from the European Digital Services Act, providing an annual risk assessment).

At the same time, the Commission is expected to conduct its own stress test at some point in 2023 to ascertain whether the platform is in fact complying with the regulations of the Digital Services Act.

Doubts

Analysts at Bloomberg have expressed doubts about Twitter’s ability to practically respond to what Europeans are now asking it to do. The deep crisis that the platform has plunged into over the past few months, with its thousands of layoffs, internal purges, Musk’s slander and infighting, has painted a picture of… disintegration, dysfunction, turmoil and a challenging outlook.

Breton and Musk

However, Bloomberg analysts also doubt the ability of the Europeans to put into practice the very Digital Services Act they bought. “Europe adopted new rules. It was easy,” Gillian Deutsch wrote last August. “Can Europe control Musk?” she asks herself in today’s article, stressing, however, that at the moment Elon Musk seems to be plays the “politics game” well in Europe How To Convince the Europeans that he is serious about the new rules they want to impose on him and build bridges with the Internal Market Commissioner. Thierry Breton.

“Breton and Musk actually get along,” writes Gillian Deutsch in Bloomberg, referring to the meeting between Mr. and Mrs. Breton. Breton and Musk last spring in Texas at Tesla’s industrial facilities, but the phone call between them, initiated by Musk immediately after the acquisition of Twitter by the billionaire…