2023-04-23 12:00:30
Elon Musk agrees to a “blank” audit of Twitter by the European Commission before the entry into force in early September of new, more restrictive rules for digital platforms, European Commissioner Thierry Breton said on Sunday.
Participating in the program Questions politiques on France inter, Mr. Breton, in charge of the internal market and in particular digital, promised to disclose next week the names of the “so-called systemic platforms” which will be particularly affected by new European legislation intended to eliminate lawless areas on the internet.
These platforms, “there are between 19 and 25. These are the ones that have more than 45 million users on the European continent”, or 10% of the EU population, noted Mr. Breton, welcoming a text that “will fundamentally change the respect of individuals online”.
The platforms concerned “will have to very quickly radically change their operation if they want to continue to operate in Europe”, he assured.
“We are going to check what is happening in their algorithms (…) how many moderators they have, if the moderators are indeed in each of the languages of the Union”, listed the commissioner.
He said he proposed to these giants, “before September”, when the legislation will apply to them, “to go and do (blank) audits”, that is to say prior, without consequences in the event of a violation.
“Can you imagine that Elon Musk accepted” such an audit of Twitter which the billionaire recently took control of, added Thierry Breton, saying he intended to “go to California to participate in this audit myself” .
The Commission is in the process of setting up a team of around a hundred “extremely specialized specialists” in digital technology and algorithms, who will be responsible for carrying out these audits, revealed Mr. Breton.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) imposes a long list of rules on social networks, marketplaces and search engines. These rules include the obligation to act “promptly” to remove any illegal content as soon as the platform becomes aware of it, or the obligation to inform the judicial authorities when they suspect a “serious criminal offence”.
They also include prohibitions, such as those on using “sensitive” user data (gender, political leaning, religious affiliation, etc.) for targeted . And transparency obligations, such as the publication of the main parameters used by recommendation systems.
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