Elon Musk is thinking of removing X from Europe over EU’s Digital Services Act

Elon Musk, the owner of the social media platform X, is reportedly contemplating the removal of the service, formerly known as Twitter, from Europe due to new internet platform regulations in the region, according to a report by Insider on Wednesday.

As per an individual familiar with the company, the billionaire entrepreneur has explored the possibility of either making the app unavailable in the European region or implementing restrictions to block users in the European Union from accessing it. This move comes in response to the evolving regulatory landscape affecting online platforms in Europe.

The European Union in August adopted the Digital Services Act (DSA), which sets forth rules for preventing the spread of harmful content, banning or limiting certain user-targeting practices, and sharing some internal data with regulators and associated researchers, among other things.

Elon Musk’s decision to remove X comes after a study commissioned by the European Commission found that X, formerly known as Twitter, showed the highest proportion of disinformation among the six major social networks.

The study analyzed over 6,000 unique social media posts across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, and YouTube, focusing on content in three countries – Spain, Poland, and Slovakia – identified as particularly susceptible to disinformation due to elections or proximity to the war in Ukraine.

Vera Jourova, the EU’s Values and Transparency Commissioner, issued a warning to X, stating, “My message for X is, you have to comply with the hard law. We’ll be watching what you’re doing.”

She emphasized that X, along with other large tech platforms, would be subject to the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which aims to regulate the conduct of these platforms. The voluntary code of practice on disinformation, which X and others signed up to in 2018, is set to be converted into a code of conduct under the DSA.

(With inputs from agencies)