Musk's Twitter Utopia Will Be Battered By U.S., EU Regulators: Analayst

Elon Musk's imminent Twitter takeover has unleashed a furor among pundits and social media users, raising new questions over free speech in the digital world, Oliver Ward of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) wrote.

Photo Insert: Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress have blasted Twitter and other big tech companies for a range of alleged abuse.

The famously flamboyant Tesla CEO, a self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist," has indicated his intention to bring a hands-off approach to content moderation and restore Twitter as a "digital town square" for free expression.

But even as Musk's plans presage new uncertainty for Twitter, a landmark agreement in Europe will pit his techno-utopian vision against proposed EU legislation requiring social media firms to police their platforms stringently. In the small hours of last Saturday morning, EU officials reached an agreement in principle on its Digital Services Act (DSA).

with the hordes of hate-speech peddlers, online bullies, and disinformation spreaders.

The law would require tech companies to moderate content on their platforms, allow users to flag illegal content, and act quickly to remove material, including hate speech and disinformation.

Firms that do not comply could incur fines of up to 6 percent of a company's total revenue—possibly billions of euros. EU officials were quick to point out on Twitter that the platform would be subject to the new regulations.

The EU is not alone in taking steps to regulate speech online. The UK is pushing ahead with its own Online Safety Bill, which would require social media companies to take action against harmful content, even if the content is not technically illegal under UK law.

Musk's hands-off approach will also put fresh pressure on the United States to adjust its "no platform liability" terms of FCC Section 230, which prevent platforms from being held legally liable responsible for user-posted content.

Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress have blasted Twitter and other big tech companies for a range of alleged abuses, and there is a bipartisan bill in the Senate that would apply anti-trust regulations to at least some of them.

The April 23rd agreement means Musk's free-speech Twitter dream could soon come up against the regulatory might of Brussels, that is, providing it first learns to cope with the hordes of hate-speech peddlers, online bullies, and disinformation spreaders.

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