The decision of the new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, to end the fight against disinformation linked to Covid is a “big problem”, stressed, this Thursday, December 1, Emmanuel Macron during an interview, while France faces a new wave of infections. “I think we have to take the issue head on. I am in favor of the exact opposite, more regulation. We do it in France and we do it at the European level,” replied the French president, currently on a state visit to the United States. United States, during an interview with ABC.
The Head of State insisted that freedom of expression “implies responsibilities and limits. You cannot go out on the street to make racist or anti-Semitic comments, it is a point that I care to defend. A conception of freedom of expression that is far removed from that defended by Elon Musk, who believes, on the contrary, in a very libertarian conception, that the latter should know almost no limits.
What’s more, the billionaire has never hidden his opinion on the health restrictions put in place to fight the pandemic, especially when they involved the temporary closure of his Tesla factory in California. “Telling people that they can’t leave their houses and that they will be arrested if they do is fascist. It is not democracy. It is not freedom. Give the people back their fucking freedom ”, he had led him in April 2020, during a conference call. for financial analysts.
European Union warns Elon Musk
The European Commission issued a warning to Elon Musk on Wednesday, November 30. During a telephone conversation between the billionaire and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, the latter recalled that the company had to “significantly increase its efforts” if it wanted to comply with European standards.
Since the takeover of the social network, after an initial phase in which Musk tried to reassure NGOs and advertisers who feared an outbreak of toxic content (hate speech, misinformation, etc.) on the platform, Twitter has reinstated a certain number of accounts suspended or banned, starting with that of former President Donald Trump, suspended in January 2021 for calling for violence, following the attack on Congress.
Source: BFM TV
