Twitter is in trouble with its moderation practices. The threat is large fines.
Russia is run from the Kremlin. Alma Media
A tech billionaire Elon Musk’s According to researchers, the propaganda machines of Russia, China and Iran have benefited from the reforms of the social media service owned by
Musk has recently revamped Twitter with a heavy hand. The most vague reforms mainly concern the certificate markings issued by the company, which Musk has outlined as payable. Thanks to this, fake accounts have also been able to buy the certificate.
The researchers state that with the reforms, accounts sharing propaganda and misleading information gain followers more effectively with the reforms, and their message spreads more effectively to a wide audience.
The service’s reforms have caused the Kremlin’s propaganda machine to switch to a higher gear on Twitter. The service shares a lot of misleading information in Russia’s interests, for example about the war in Ukraine.
The news agency reported about it AP.
Discipline propaganda by blocking access to accounts?
Vice President of European Union Values and Transparency Vera Jourova tweeted on Wednesday that the service is not secure. He also noted that the Kremlin’s influence is spreading in the service.
The EU recently passed a new law on digital services, which requires the largest internet services to increase the moderation of their services in order to curb the spread of harmful content.
If you don’t see the embed, you can watch it from here.
If Twitter fails to comply with the law, the EU could impose a fine on the company equal to six percent of the company’s global sales.
In reaction to this, Twitter decided to renew its service again. Today, the accounts of news agencies that spread the Kremlin’s message, such as RT and Sputnik, are blocked in EU member states. In its justification, the company refers to legal requirements.
Of course, this is just supposed to be artificial respiration for the worst problem until Musk finds a more effective means of moderating his service. Propaganda from the accounts of individual users and bots is still spreading in the service despite this.