This Sunday's speaker on Political Questions was Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market. They specifically addressed the new EU regulations that will go into effect in September to eradicate lawless zones on the internet.
 |
| Thierry Breton |
It serves as a warning. "From September, Elon Musk will do what is asked of him if he wants to continue to operate," said Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, on France Inter. For good reason, the very huge online platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Amazon, will be required to implement the new EU laws that went into effect in September to eradicate lawless regions on the internet. The Commission's services specifically target hate speech, "respect for private life," and misinformation.
"We will be protected from online harassment, fake news, we will be protected from a lot of things that we complain about and everything that makes today, in the information space, we have the feeling that we are in a space of lawlessness ", detailed Thierry Breton.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) puts a slew of regulations on social media platforms, markets, and search engines. These guidelines include the responsibility to act "promptly" to delete any unlawful content as soon as the platform becomes aware of it, as well as the obligation to notify judicial authorities when a "serious criminal offence " is suspected. They also include limitations on exploiting "sensitive" user data (gender, political affiliation, religious affiliation, and so on) for targeted advertising. And transparency requirements, such as publishing the major parameters utilized by recommendation algorithms.
Thierry Breton stated that he will "announce this week which are" the "systemic platforms," stating that "19 and 25 " will be included. "They will have to very quickly radically change their operation if they want to continue to operate in Europe," said the commissioner in charge of digital. "We are going to check what is going on in their algorithms (...) how many moderators they have, whether the moderators are actually in each of the Union's languages," said the commissioner.
Elon Musk and Thierry Breton in Video. (Reuters)
He stated that he suggested to these behemoths "before September," when the legislation would apply to them, "to," that is, prior, with no repercussions in the case of an infraction. "Imagine Elon Musk accepting" such an audit of Twitter, which the billionaire just gained control of, said Thierry Breton, adding that he intends to "travel to California to participate in this audit myself."
According to Thierry Breton, the Commission is in the midst of assembling a team of roughly a hundred "extremely specialized specialists" in digital technology and algorithms who will be in charge of carrying out these audits. "I am in the process of forming a team that will make 'descents' when it deems it necessary in the event of a problem with such or such a platform," the European commissioner explained.