European Commissioner Thierry Breton warned Elon Musk on Thursday that Twitter must have enough resources to moderate dangerous content by 25 August.
If Musk is not able to deliver, the Twitter CEO risks violating the Digital Services Act (DSA), under which internet platforms will now be legally obliged to combat disinformation, among other issues.
"If the technology is not ready, they should have sufficient resources to bridge the gap. I talked to Elon Musk about this particular issue," Breton told reporters after a meeting at Twitter's headquarters.
Election disinformation
Breton said he told the Twitter team – with Musk in attendance – via video call from New York that "there are a few areas that will be immediately critical when the regulation becomes enforceable," such as child abuse and "disinformation in elections".
Breton's visit to Twitter was part of what the EU called a "stress test" to gauge whether the internet platform was ready to comply with the new rules, despite a huge wave of lay-offs since Musk took over Twitter in October 2022.
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During a visit to Paris last week, Musk said he intended to comply with the DSA, an ambition the EU welcomes. However, with moderator teams decimated, Musk's ability to deliver on his promise is in doubt.
To comply with the new rules, Twitter, Meta, TikTok and other internet platforms will have to invest heavily in appointing moderators, at a time when the big tech companies are actually laying off staff.
