Elon Musk is taking X out of the European market in reaction to a fresh set of European Union’s internet platform rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), Insider reported on Wednesday. The DSA is a complete legislature designed to supervise online platforms and hold them accountable for the content they share on their social networking sites.
Citing a person familiar with the company, Musk is becoming ever more frustrated with the necessity to adhere to the guidelines outlined in the Digital Services Act.
Elon Musk has earlier hinted at a solution to this issue by advising the removal of the app from the European region. It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time the X owner has proposed such a severe step.
The change comes as Twitter “X” now faces heightened scrutiny in Europe, predominantly about its management of injurious and toxic content. In recent weeks, Musk has spoken about the idea that Twitter may stop being available in Europe as a means to avoid the new rules introduced by the European Commission.
“Musk is more and more frustrated with having to obey the Digital Services Act, according to a person conversant with the company. The Tesla owner, who acquired Twitter, now called X, a year ago for $44 billion, has discussed simply removing the app’s availability in the region or blocking users in the European Union from accessing it,” Insider wrote.
The Digital Services Act came into effect in August, and it orders that big online social media sites like X must start effective and clear systems for moderating and removing wrong, deceptive, and dangerous information. Given the fast spread of misinformation related to the Israel-Hamas battle on X, it’s highly likely that the social network is already in violation of the DSA.
EU Commissioner Thierry Breton recently stated that the Commission is officially “investigating X’s compliance” with the new regulation. They have officially requested detailed information from the platform regarding its efforts to alleviate and remove dangerous or noxious information as outlined in the Digital Services Act.