Crisis Averted
The US Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown with the passage of a bipartisan funding bill, but the process laid bare the persistent challenges of governance in an era of heightened partisanship and external influences.
In recent weeks, Elon Musk has proposed the possibility of restricting access to Twitter (X) in Europe as a response to new regulations put in place by the European Commission.
Musk, who is increasingly frustrated with the Digital Services Act, has contemplated two potential actions regarding Twitter, now renamed as X, which he purchased for $44 billion a year ago. One option is to limit the availability of X in Europe, while the other involves blocking users within the European Union from using the platform.
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This move is reminiscent of how Meta currently prevents European users from accessing its new app, Threads.
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The Digital Services Act, which became effective in August across the European Union, mandates that online platforms like X and Meta Platforms Inc. must establish transparent content moderation systems and remove false or misleading information.
As of last week, the European Commission officially initiated an investigation into X’s compliance with the Digital Services Act, with EU Commissioner Thierry Breton overseeing the matter. The Commission possesses the authority to impose periodic penalty payments or fines, which could reach up to 6% of a company’s global revenue.
Earlier this month, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton cautioned Elon Musk, stating that the X platform “is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU.” This assertion followed the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel. In a letter addressed to Musk, Breton pointed out that following the terrorist attacks conducted by Hamas in Israel, there were indications that “your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU.”
Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, mentioned on Thursday that the microblogging platform has taken action against numerous “Hamas-linked accounts” and has also addressed tens of thousands of pieces of content by either removing them or attaching appropriate labels since the attack on Israel.
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