Twitter job cuts a priority as new EU guidelines kick in, EU justice head says By Reuters

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Twitter’s determination to close down its Brussels workplace and the shedding of hundreds of workers are drawing considerations on whether or not the corporate can adjust to new powerful European Union guidelines towards unlawful on-line content material, EU justice chief Didier Reynders stated on Thursday.

Reynders, who met with Twitter representatives on the social media platform’s European headquarters in Dublin, sought clarifications from the corporate, a European Fee official advised Reuters.

“Twitter representatives reaffirmed the dedication of the corporate to make sure full compliance with EU guidelines. Commissioner Reynders took observe of it and requested Twitter to translate this dedication into concrete measures,” the official stated, talking on situation of anonymity.

The brand new guidelines generally known as the Digital Providers Act, which can apply from February 2024, require on-line platforms to do extra to police the web for unlawful content material or threat fines as a lot as 6% of their annual international turnover.

Twitter has fired prime executives and enforced steep job cuts with little warning following billionaire Elon Musk’s tumultuous takeover of the corporate final month. About half of the workforce – round 3,700 workers – has been laid off whereas greater than 1,000 have resigned.

Twitter’s final two Brussels-based workers are now not with the corporate, an individual accustomed to the matter advised Reuters, talking on situation of anonymity. The staff, which interacted with Fee officers on coverage and regulatory points, had initially numbered six folks.

Reynders additionally warned Twitter and different tech firms to do extra to deal with on-line hate speech after the most recent knowledge confirmed they’d eliminated much less content material this yr than in earlier years.