IT Essentials: Rights and responsibilities

Musk is trying to ignore it, but the law is coming for Twitter

Confession time: I am a little outspoken. Seeing as I'm admitting to that in a personal editorial column, that probably comes as no surprise.

However, I'm first and foremost a journalist: I check, corroborate and verify before I quote anything or anyone (admittedly, as an industry, we're not always perfect at that). For decades that filtered, fact-checked content was the only way for people to receive news.

Social media has changed the game. Anyone with an internet connection can reach the entire world in a few clicks.

People aren't only sharing pictures of their lunch. The last decade has seen a massive spike in mis- and disinformation flying around cyberspace, and it often starts with a group with an agenda - whether it's a nation state or a political party.

That's why the news that Twitter was quitting the EU's Code of Practice on Disinformation was so concerning. People shouting conspiracy theories on Truth Social is one thing. When they do it on Twitter, with hundreds of millions of monthly users, it's something else all together.

On top of that, Twitter's limited character count and ease of reposting make it a perfect breeding ground for disinformation.

The news isn't totally bleak. Elon Musk might like to pretend otherwise - he is at heart a small-state libertarian - but Twitter has a responsibility, soon to be enshrined in law, to protect users from false information.

Leaving a voluntary agreement is one thing. Denying the world's largest trading bloc is quite another. That's why other tech giants and social media firms are all still part of the Code of Practice, and why Thierry Breton told Twitter, "You can run, but you can't hide."

Weekend Reading

Celebrating both the amazing women in the tech sector and our own 50th anniversary, we've launched the Tech Women Celebration 50 this week. We'd love to hear stories of success from you or women you know in the sector, whatever stage they're at in their career.

And for a real tech-for-good story, check out how one fintech founder is using AI to improve lives in Bangladesh.