The French President and the Twitter CEO have met in New Orleans.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
New Orleans, Washington During his visit to the US, French President Emmanuel Macron met the new Twitter boss and tech billionaire Elon Musk. Macron wrote in a tweet on Friday (local time) that he met Musk in the afternoon and had a “clear and honest discussion” with him.
Musk has committed to taking action against terrorist and violent extremist content and better protecting children online. “Absolutely,” Musk replied in a tweet in French.
Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter, there have been widespread concerns that more hate speech and abuse could end up on the platform under his leadership and after the major job cuts he implemented. Musk had raised such concerns himself with repeated criticism that Twitter had restricted freedom of speech on the platform too much.
In another tweet, Macron wrote that he also exchanged views with Musk about future green industrial projects, such as the manufacture of electric vehicles and batteries. In addition, the President provided a photo of Musk and himself at a conference table. “I look forward to exciting plans in France,” Musk wrote in response. He also owns the electric car company Tesla.
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Macron had traveled to the United States for a state visit lasting several days. After a pompous program in the capital Washington, he traveled on Friday to the southern US metropolis of New Orleans, which is French-influenced. There he did, among other things, a city tour with Mayor Latoya Cantrell and met the governor of the state of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards.
EU Commissioner threatens Twitter with fines and shutdown
At the same time, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton got involved in the debate and brought Breton into play with fines and other measures. “It’s crystal clear that if Twitter doesn’t follow these rules, we can impose fines. And if the rule violations continue, we can shut down the platform in Europe,” Breton told the newspapers of the Funke media group and the French newspaper Ouest-France. “No one should be fooled: we will do the same if the need arises. That is the wish of our great democracy.”
The EU Internal Market Commissioner brings punitive measures against Twitter into play.
(Photo: Reuters)
“We’ve been following what’s happening on Twitter very closely since Elon Musk took over,” Breton said, announcing that there would be another meeting between him and Twitter boss Musk before Christmas. Digital markets and digital services laws “offer powerful tools to curb the spread of lies and hatred,” Breton said. “Twitter needs to meet these criteria if it wants to continue operating in the European market.”
One of the aims of the Digital Services Act is to ensure that platforms remove illegal content on their sites more quickly. The requirements will apply throughout the EU from mid-February 2024 – earlier for particularly large platforms. At the beginning of 2023, Commission employees are to carry out a stress test at Twitter headquarters.
More: EU Commissioner Breton threatens Twitter boss Musk with license withdrawal