EU tells Musk: 'Recruit more staff to moderate Twitter'
Elon Musk has cut Twitter's workforce by more than 50% since October
The EU has told Twitter owner Elon Musk to increase the number of human moderators and fact-checkers who review posts on the microblogging site.
The Financial Times, citing four sources with knowledge of the matter, said European regulators are worried that Twitter relies too heavily on automation for content moderation.
Following his acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion in October, Elon Musk has cut the company's workforce by over 50%, including eliminating entire trust and safety teams in certain offices.
Most public relations staff have also been let go, making it extremely difficult to get comment on any stories about the company.
The sweeping layoffs have sparked concerns about Twitter's ability to comply with the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA). The incoming law, due to come into full effect next year, requires digital platforms to implement specific measures against illegal content.
At present, Twitter employs a combination of human moderators and AI technology to identify and evaluate harmful material, similar to other social media platforms.
But unlike its larger competitor Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, Twitter does not utilise fact-checkers.
Twitter has been using volunteer moderators for a feature known as "community notes," to address the overwhelming amount of misinformation on the platform. It does not use the tool to handle illegal content.
"Community notes is not a terrible idea but Musk needs to prove that it works," a person with knowledge of the talks told the FT.
Another source said the feature is just one aspect of Twitter's broader approach to moderating disinformation.
Twitter's second warning
The EU has already warned Musk that Twitter could face fines, or even a ban in the region, if it fails to comply with content moderation guidelines.
Thierry Breton, the EU's Commissioner for Digital Policy, held a video conference with Musk in December to discuss Twitter's preparedness for the DSA.
Breton provided Musk with a set of requirements, including ending the practice of restoring banned users in an "arbitrary" manner (Musk controversially lifted the ban on former US President Donald Trump after conducting a poll of users), and committing to an "extensive independent audit" of the platform by 2023.
Breton warned that Twitter could be at risk of violating the DSA if it failed to comply with guidelines.
Previously both Breton and Didier Reynders, the European Commission's Chief of Justice, had urged Musk to adhere to EU regulations covering hate speech and misinformation.
The Digital Services Act, which is set to be enforced next year, seeks to establish a global standard for how digital companies must regulate online content.
The new law will require tech companies to monitor their platforms for content promoting terrorism, child sexual exploitation, hate speech and financial fraud.
"We intend to comply fully with the Digital Services Act and have had several productive discussions with EU officials on our efforts in this area," Twitter told the FT.
"We will continue to utilise a mixture of technology and expert staff to proactively detect and remove illegal content, while community notes will enable people to learn more about potential misinformation in a way that is informative, transparent and trustworthy."
Musk said this week that the firm has a chance to become cash flow positive next quarter, as Twitter has been aggressively reducing its costs (for instance, by not paying rent and skipping out on airline fare).
Speaking at a Morgan Stanley investor conference, Musk said Twitter had been poorly managed to monetise its messaging service.
He noted that Twitter has cut its non-debt expenditures from a projected $4.5 billion in 2023 to $1.5 billion, by cutting its cloud services bill by 40% and shutting down one of its data centres.