EU has expressed its concern over the recent layoffs at Twitter and gaps in the social network’s content moderation practices.
“The recent layoffs @Twitter and today’s results of the Code of Conduct against #Hate Speech are a source of concern. In my meeting at Twitter’s HQ, I underlined that we expect Twitter to deliver on their voluntary commitments and comply with EU rules, including #GDPR & #DSA,” EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders tweeted . In a subsequent tweet, the commissioner urged IT companies “to look at their content moderation practices and address the gaps shortly.” “It is disappointing that most of IT companies taking part in EU Code of Conduct have slowed down their responses to notifications of #Online Hate Speech,” he said.
Recently European Commission released results of the evaluation of code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online. The EU data showed a significant decrease in companies’ notice-and-action results in 2022.
“The removal rate was 63.6per cent, similar to 2021 (62.5per cent), but still lower than in 2020 (71per cent). YouTube improved its removal rate in 2022 (90.4per cent), as compared to 2021 (58.8per cent). All the other IT companies removed less content than in 2021, in some cases with minor variations (Facebook removed 69.1per cent in 2022 and 70.2per cent in 2021; Twitter removed 45.4per cent and 49.8per cent, respectively),” the European Commission said.
Last month, the world’s richest man finalized the acquisition of Twitter, which cost him USD 44 billion. Following the takeover, Musk changed the company operations, including the termination of Twitter’s executives who were responsible for the platform’s privacy and cybersecurity, and thousands of regular Twitter employees.