Twitter has announced that it will no longer be participating in the European Union's (EU) voluntary Code of Practice on Disinformation. EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton confirmed the company's withdrawal in a tweet on Friday, but also emphasized that the obligations to curb the spread of misinformation apply to all social media platforms, whether they participate in the Code or not.
Twitter had previously agreed to follow the code, but earlier this year, failed to provide a complete report to the EU. The report lacked critical data and lacked any explicit commitment to helping fact-checkers, according to the EU's executive branch.
Despite Twitter's withdrawal from the voluntary Code of Practice, certain legal requirements still pertain to all social media platforms under the EU Digital Services Act. The Act, which becomes effective as of August 25th, mandates large online platforms such as Twitter to submit annual risk assessments to the EU Commission and adopt measures to address harmful content. Failure to comply with the Act will result in penalties of up to 6% of the company's revenue, or could lead to a platform being banned altogether.
There are concerns about how Twitter's recent job cuts and the closure of the company's Brussels office will affect its ability to meet the EU's requirements. Breton acknowledges that enforcement will be necessary and that their teams will be ready to act, regardless of whether Twitter is part of the Code of Practice or not.