EU tells Elon Musk to hire more staff to monitor Twitter: Report
The European Union urged Elon Musk to hire more human moderators and fact-checkers to review Twitter posts, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing four people familiar with discussions between Musk, Twitter executives and regulators in Brussels.
The demand complicates Musk’s efforts to reorganize the loss-making business, which he bought for $44 billion in October. He has cut more than half of Twitter’s 7,500 staff, including entire trust and security teams in some offices, while looking for cheaper ways to monitor tweets, according to the report.
The massive layoffs have raised concerns about whether Twitter will be able to comply with the EU’s digital services law, which requires internet platforms to take special measures against illegal content before the law comes into full force in early 2024.
Twitter has relied heavily on automation for content moderation and eliminated certain manual reviews. It does not use fact-checkers, unlike larger rival Meta Platforms Inc, which owns Facebook and Instagram, according to the report.
European Union industry chief Thierry Breton warned Musk in a video call in January of “a big job ahead” to enforce Twitter’s transparent usage policy, strengthen content moderation and protect free speech.
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