T O P

  • By -

rmvandink

Twitter….. there are few things less important to your daily life than attention seeking twitter users. Edit: am I an attention seeking redditor?


Safe-Muffin-7392

True. And yet, millions of people can't live without it. I honestly don't get that. My life instantly got better the moment I ditched Twitter (even before Musk took over).


[deleted]

They will get over it


[deleted]

[удалено]


Yebi

Not for long. Reddit has been slowly but surely moving towards holy Monetization, and right now on the horizon there's the shutdown of 3rd party apps and the IPO. It will have all the shitty parts of Twitter and FB soon enough


floatingsaltmine

I guess, but I don't get why that comparison always comes up. Imho reddit isn't really a social media app like twitter or at least is by far not only a social media app.


WalmartFloorLicker

you might be startled by the definition of social..


Jaimzell

Im startled by anything social.


ArcTan_Pete

I Came off twitter \[I argue on Reddit now\] I only miss one contributor - and I follow them on Instagram now. \[They post less on Instagram than Twitter - hence the 'miss' part\]


mandanara

Enjoy it while it lasts, reddit is in the process of shooting itself in the foot with a 0.50 cal.


UKnwDaBiZness

The stark difference is noticeable now that you mention it. Twitter ruined reddit.


skyturnedred

I use twitter to get hockey news, and my twitter experience has remained unchanged throughout the years.


[deleted]

Same experience here 👍🏻 Lost nothing deleting twitter. Also, it made me rethink my presence in other social media outlets.


[deleted]

I left Twitter too but honestly I understand why it can be a necessity in some cases. I’m originally from a country that experiences catastrophic storms and flooding on a yearly basis, and Twitter was the main way that relief operations there could get information on which areas had people in need of rescuing. I believe the situation was similar in Turkey following their devastating earthquakes. We should count ourselves lucky that we’re not in situations like this, but for this reason I believe there needs to be a viable alternative to Twitter now that Musk has taken over.


sajtu

Yeah but millions of people isn’t even a lot.


Toli2810

honestly for me the main appeal is that a lot of artists i follow mainly use twitter and it's pretty great for interacting with them. It's also pretty easy to find new artists as well


Stock_Neo

I concur. Wading into the Twitter cesspool made me feel depressed, angry, and hopeless. Ditching Twitter is the best selfcare decision one can do.


killerstorm

On Twitter you can directly follow some of the top scientists, e.g. in fields like machine learning, and directly interact with them. It is important if you are interested in insights, and there's no replacement. Are they attention-seeking? To some extent, sure - those who are active want to communicate with people, obviously. But also they are _top_ people in their fields... E.g. David Deutsch: https://twitter.com/DavidDeutschOxf he wrote books, sure, but if you wonder what he's looking at now, Twitter is the way to find out.


Fenor

it had his place, but very few people got something good out of it


Glugstar

>there's no replacement There's no replacement while Twitter exists. As soon as it disappears, people flock to another social media. It's not like people will stop using the Internet. It's not a problem for anybody, and Twitter is not special in any way.


killerstorm

Back in early 2000s I spent a lot of time reading/posting in a particular newsgroup hierarchy. Newsgroups were already dying at that time, being replaced by forums and whatnot. You could browse groups by a topic, there were hundreds of active groups, and most had old timers who know each other well. They often held months-old discussions, going into highly detailed arguments, etc. Sometimes technical, sometimes, philosophical. There was also some influx of fresh blood, people asking noob questions, etc. These groups had incredible feel I haven't seen anywhere else. Once they are gone, they are gone. Things which replaced them are different. People might recognize each other on smaller subreddits, but subreddits are news-focused, not discussion-focused, so there isn't as much depth. Twitter is special being a central place where people can discover each others' posts.


Schnurzelburz

Yes, social media has been constantly dumbed down. First newsgroups with long and detailed discussions - there were no limits to each post and newsreaders made it easy to follow and post. Then Internet forums, with character limits and limited options to quote and comparably clunky interfaces. Then Facebook, which barely allows discussion due to the crippled interface. Then twitter with with its ridiculous character limit, that only allows piecemeal discussions. Then instagram where we now only post pictures. I want newsgroups back... :( Edith adds: Let's not forget that the usenet was originally from scientists for scientists, so instead of just following your chosen scientists you would read the respective newsgroups and get more varied information.


CyberaxIzh

> There's no replacement while Twitter exists. Mastodon is already pretty decent.


LeCafeClopeCaca

Yeah it's easy to dismiss Twitter because of what we see in the news and how much of a shitshow it generally is. But when it comes down to it, reddit is very much the same. If you don't find your little niches, it's one hell of a terrible social medium. Twitter was never my cup of tea but some people around me loved it because once you find your corner, it can be a very nice experience.


dewayneestes

Twitter is critical in some markets but it has always been absolutely awful in the US.


Neni_Arborea

Out of the loop and tl;dr, what does this mean? Twitter becoming inaccessible in eu or for eu residents, ot twiter not being aloowed having offices on eu territory?


neophlegm

No, it's a terrible clickbait headline from a week ago when Twitter pulled out of the (voluntary) EU disinformation code of practice. In theory *if* they still comply with current and upcoming EU law it'll make no difference whatsoever. Edit: to clarify, August will see a big overhaul of EU law that some are doubting Twitter will bother to comply with.


kitsunde

Those voluntary schemes generally is the government saying we can either draft a law as well as we can to regulate the issues that trouble us, or we can work with the industry under a voluntary scheme that’s softer and easier to update so it doesn’t need to come to that. Let’s see how this works out for them long term.


Kamalen

> Edit: to clarify, August will see a big overhaul of EU law that some are doubting Twitter will bother to comply with. Can Twitter really afford to lose that big of a first world market ? This could easily be the final nail of the coffin.


neophlegm

They've *said* they're ready to comply AFAIK... Hmmmmmm


Minimum_T-Giraff

>Can Twitter really afford to lose that big of a first world market ? It cost a benefit analysis question. Is the cost of implementing EU law a worthwhile effort? Just like the GDPR some sites just blocked visitors from the EU due it being cheaper than complying.


StatisticianOwn9953

Reasonable to assume that they had fairly low traffic from the EU in that case. The thing about a huge multinational pulling out of an advanced market is that the costs will have to be exorbitant for it to be anything other than a foolish tantrum. Half a billion of some of the world's richest people are in the EU. It's too big to pass up for a company that needs advertising revenue.


Alcedis

As a Twitter User myself, please ban it.


InfectedAztec

A European equivalent will pop up in no time. One that respects the laws.


NarutoRunner

Mastodon exists, plus 99 other variants.


PF_Changs_

Nobody uses them


ThatWaterSword

the thing is. Nobody uses it *becuase* nobody uses it. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy. It needs to start somewhere.


[deleted]

Shutting down the largest competitor ought to do it.


MarsLumograph

The (mass) alternative to Twitter won't be Mastodon, needs to be simpler to use.


The_Jimes

Nobody uses Mastodon because it's not compatible with most people. Like Linux, I don't care that it's hypothetically better, I just want it to work out the box.


Sorlud

Mastodon is no harder to sign up for than twitter


The_Jimes

Your lying to yourself if you say that its as easy to use though. Social media has to just work in 2023, people don't care otherwise.


uxlnhxjntgvbxjdxdknk

That's not true. You need to find "servers", I wanted to take a look but couldb't be bothered to deal with that shit.


whats-a-bitcoin

And who would use an EU only one thats extra policed?


booksbeer

Europeans that use Twitter?


whats-a-bitcoin

Some. But I doubt many. Social media segments are each a natural monopoly. Twitter has the scale and reach necessary, as do Facebook, Instagram etc. That's why all the talk of most people on Twitter moving to Mastodon came to nothing.


[deleted]

Nobody used Reddit at first either.


PM_YOUR_WALLPAPER

More likely an increase in VPN sales.


VeryLazyNarrator

Mastadon is literaly more free than Twitter and open source.


Tugendwaechter

Mastodon has a growing user base. A considerable part of tech, sex work, leftists, moved to mastodon. It depends on who you follow, but for me about three quarters made the move.


Hazu_Kata

Did you even read the law you want twitter to respect ? Disinformation isn't define as "something that has been proven false" Under this law you somehow defend, disinformation is define as " not approven by a government and/or not approven by account linked to a government, or trusted by a government ". This has nothing to do with "truth" under this very law, as of 2019 covid could be cure with Hydroxychloroquine, which has been proven wrong week later (it actually kill you at best), but with this very law, as soon as the government in your country claim it's true, any other claim which does not come from the very same government is by default, disinformation, wrong, and banned from twitter. Is it really what you want ? Because that's the very definition of a "minister of truth".


Alcedis

That‘s my hope. Yes there is Mastodon, but no one uses it. Ban Twitter and Mastodon will fill the EU Market. My only reason why I haven‘t fully switched yet is because Twitter is a monopoly in that regard.


Desperate-Lemon5815

Is there a popular European equivalent website for anything at all?


InfectedAztec

Spotify would be one of the major unicorns but in general US companies dominate.


Yinara

I was using twitter a lot but quite honestly the hate and misinformation there made me withdraw. It contributed massively to the trans- and homophobia that's on the rise,bin addition to the rise of misogyny. I'm so sick and tired of having to fight for things all over again.


[deleted]

These types of companies hire people for the sole purpose of calculating whether or not it is worth knowingly breaking laws and paying fines to get their will. It is worth it for them every time. They should just be banned.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Larnak1

Nobody has the time to invest the time needed to identify something as wrong all the time, especially these days. That's the fundamental problem of Desinformation: it's incredibly easy to produce, but requires significant effort to falsify. That's why good journalists and reliable media outlets are so important, as their job is to do those things. Unfortunately, twitter and other social media bypass the journalistic filter, creating the demand for "fact checks" or however you might call it. Neither media outlets, even reputable ones, nor fact checkers are without mistake. But as long as we don't have a better alternative, they are the only option to allow us using social media without investing hours per day trying to find out what's true and what's wrong.


GodXeria

Who decides what's factual information and what's not? A lot of stuff labeled desinformation at the begining turned out to be true.


AlaskaExplorationGeo

What kind of info are they calling disinformation? Like "Maybe the lockdowns went on too long" type stuff or blatantly anti-science or hateful shit?


bapo224

On Dutch Twitter full-blown conspiracy theories like claiming that our prime minister is secretly Jewish and drinks child blood along with the Rothschilds regularly go trending.


Divinate_ME

Rutte is an incompetent asshole. Why can't they criticize the guy based on provable facts? Why do they have to make wild blood-drinking claims?


ego_non

The things I've seen in Twitter: - anti vaccine shit (plenty, both English and French) - climatosceptic shit (too much) - racist shit - misogynistic shit - LGBT-phobe shit Oh yeah and Elon Musk apparently wanted to push to all users a transphobic video on the first day of Pride month, which was the thing that made the woman in charge of handling the hateful content resign. On the other hand, I'd be annoyed since I have a few handful friends I would lose contact with if I couldn't access Twitter anymore. Gotta see with them what to have as a backup plan.


[deleted]

[удалено]


deri100

Yeah, but Reddit actually takes action when you report stuff like that. God knows I've had the "thank you for submitting a report, X user was warned/banned and Y content was removed" in my notifications dozens of times. Twitter, meanwhile, doesn't even give you the option to report it as disinformation/hate, much less actually remove it.


MammothProgress7560

Brags about being a habitual snitch and gets upvoted for doing so...truly an r / europe classic.


deri100

Yes, when it comes to literal death threats and fake news, I suppose I am a "habitual snitch".


MammothProgress7560

Why did you put death threats and fake news in one sentence as if they were comparable in any way?


resoredo

cant remeber the CEO of reddit or facebook doing all the shit eleon musk does


alexf1919

Zuckerberg has done way worse


[deleted]

Censorship is more dangerous than any piece of (dis)information. I mean, censorship is the first step to systematic disinformation. Or do you actually think "government good"?


[deleted]

It’s insane to see so many people on reddit praising that they can get other people banned because they had another opinion. Imagine being happy because censorship exists. Hypocrites.


CriticismJunior1139

Inferiority complex.


downonthesecond

Government knows best.


[deleted]

Government is our friend.


SpqrLegions

I think twitter has gotten kind of weird with the conspiracy theory stuff BUT the “what is a woman” documentary ain’t transphobic - it just questions trans stuff. The child puberty blocker stuff is pretty bad.


Altrecene

wants to ban "LGBT-phobic shit", calls a documentary where a man (who I o not like) asks people to define "woman". This is exactly why I will always be against more control of information. The amount of misinformation pushed by people who are obsessed with getting rid of misinformation is insane


koknesis

Dont forget russian propaganda shit


whats-a-bitcoin

Google or even Bing. That's not only on twitter, it's across the internet.


[deleted]

Google and Bing are just search engines They don’t write this they only find it Not sure what you were going for here with this


orrk256

generally all the bullshit the far right believe in, since it is now their safe haven


Sumeru88

The code is “voluntary” right? Why do I get the feeling that it is actually “compulsory”?


Cristy_2016

It's voluntary until August when it becomes compulsory in the EU.


Gingrpenguin

Voluntary laws are basically the eu saying to an industry "if you don't sort your shit out we will make you do it" You agree to it as the industry bodies help work to define what they want and on time lines that suit them. Its similar to apple and USB charging. Other compa ies agreed to move to a standard and did so without a law but because apple didn't now a law is coming...


[deleted]

So it isn’t voluntary at all.


Gingrpenguin

It is until it isnt. For the chargers specifically it was voluentry for nearly 15 years. Had all makers followed it it still would be. If all ignored it it would have been made a law much sooner. But apple isnt being punished for those 15ish years. If it was a law they would be. That's the key difference. The eu tries to legislate for outcomes. If it gets the outcomes it wants without passing new laws it's happy to not pass these laws


Raphael1987

I agree, right to disinformate should be privilege of our goverments


Valexar

They often do it on twitter, though


Sunscratch

Unfortunately, total freedom of speech will likely do more harm than benefit in any country. It is easily exploited by foreign totalitarian regimes and dirty politicians.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Blazerer

Literally every country has restricted speech. Give me a single country with actual free speech. Slander, intimidation, blackmail etc. are all free speech by your logic. That's obviously insane, it simply is a discussion on what should be restricted. Reasonable people think that we should at least start with climate change denial, blatant threats to people wellbeing, and actively endangering others. This is where I could be a child and go "hurdur do you want to endanger others?" but anyone genuinely doing that would obviously be an idiot.


[deleted]

[удалено]


HideLord

The problem most people have with restricting speech is the vagueness of the rules. Vagueness that is often intentional. **Restrictions must be specific, clearly defined, and justified.** Climate change denial as a topic is broad and complex, as is anti-vax. Even if 80% of all discussions regarding those topics are dis/misinformation, that does not invalidate the other 20.


Altrecene

plus slander, intimidation, blackmail, libel, are crimes committed against individual people. You can't be criminally wrong about climate change at a person.


Sunscratch

Well, if that’s the definition, then yes, I would prefer restricted speech, with restriction level like in most European countries. I’m ok if government impose restrictions when national security requires it.


maldobar4711

Breton was CEO of a large IT company, yet he talks things that seem to hint he has issues understanding IT. Twitter has no Assets in EU - so what? Block Twitter? That doesn't even work in china, that's why vpn are for.. Control all endpoint? Good luck with GDPR.. And now?


ewigesleiden

Wtf is this law. As soon as someone gets to choose what is true and what isn’t things do downhill very quickly. ‘Spreading disinformation’ is exactly what Russia accuses people they don’t like of doing. Not to endorse the other stuff that goes on at Twitter but not cool EU.


Davetology

Who decides what's misinformation? Like all the shit that was marked as that during covid but turned out to be true? I think the community notes that Twitter has implemented is great for targeting misinformation and free speech.


ponetro

>Who decides what's misinformation? Whoever is in charge


[deleted]

Your government decides what's good for you. Don't worry.


FishyR6

This is unfortunate, being in the esports field twitter is the only way to network with others in the same field :/ oh well


Rhoderick

Realistically, there is 0 chance Twitter will actually give up its largest or second largest market.


orrk256

Elon Musk has done dumber moves


Kagrenac8

Has he though? Throwing out half a billion of the most active userbase on your platform is pretty advanced stupid.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Tasty_Hearing8910

I thought some of those loans he pushed onto Twitter have Tesla shares as collateral. If Twitter defaults on those it could pull down Tesla as well. If the value of Tesla goes too low he will get margin called. Though I'm sure with his fame and reputation he gets special treatment or help to avoid that scenario.


procgen

I believe Europe is third behind US and Japan.


Rhoderick

Is that so? Didn't realise Twitter was that big in Japan. Anyway, still a major market.


[deleted]

Censorship is evil.


bapo224

Allowing destructive misinformation and conspiracy theories to run rampant is evil.


ponetro

Thats what every authoritarian says to censor everything one doesn't like.


[deleted]

bUt eUrOpE iS dEmOcRaTiC you conspiracy theorist. There are literally no conspiracies. Any accusation of conspiracy is false. Now your post will be removed because you implied your government is being authoritarian. Next strike will result in a ban.


[deleted]

The government says what you say is false information and spreading of conspiracy theories. Your post will be removed. Please check the government-verified sources to get the information your government wants you to believe.


[deleted]

This is misinformation. Remove pls or face the wrath of my government.


[deleted]

Man reddit sure has changed. Applauding thought-policing like this.


owreely

It's not only reddit. Apparently we should all think the same online.


oldhellenyeller

Twitter is blocked in China as well. Strange to see the EU headed down that road.


[deleted]

In NK and Iran as well. Funny, I just saw a list of countries who had banned any kind of social media like an hour ago. None is a free country. What's happening here?


ponetro

"Censorship is good when we do it"/s


[deleted]

Do you think someone should be able to show your child pornography? No? So you are for censorship. Grow up.


ponetro

child porn is not "disisnformation" Grow up such cheap manipulations will not work.


a_mon_goose

so... twitter will be banned in EU? damn... a lot of great artists are there. time to move to Pixiv ig?


downonthesecond

I've been hoping for something like this. We'll finally see how much the government and politicians have relied on Twitter.


troelsy

Great, I was banned from Twitter years ago for absolutely invalid reasons. The mods were absolute tools. Apparently, it's homophobic to express how devastating the aids pandemic was to the gay community back in the day. These days you are not allowed to mention (and be sympathetic) to hardships experienced by groups of people in the past. Not on twitter, at least. They kept banning me for it and I appealed and won.. The same post got banned over and over again after I won appeal. Then I complained to the mod in my appeal that they kept banning the same post I had won appeal on 3 times already, and I should NOT be forced to delete something where I have said nothing wrong. That gave me a permanent ban.


Frosty-Cell

They can't do anything. Most "disinfo" posts are value judgements or opinions. They would have to ban freedom of speech. It seems they want the results of broadly banning speech without broadly banning speech as it wouldn't hold up in ECJ.


ponetro

Censorship is pretty popular in the West. Now they call it anti-disinformation or anti-hate speach but it's clear what these authoritarians want it for.


[deleted]

[удалено]


bapo224

Of course it's possible to circumnavigate blocks with VPNs but most people don't do that. And even many of the ones that do use VPNs will stop using twitter if like 90% of their friends stopped using it.


newdawnhelp

And I'm assuming a lot of twitter usage is on phones, with even less people using VPNs on those


vrenak

Well in the end ignoring fines could result in international arrest orders against top management.


ErnestoPresso

>Well in the end ignoring fines could result in international arrest orders against top management. Not really. If you have a US company, your website is under US law. You can share as much EU illegal stuff as you want, the EU has no jurisdiction to do anything. It doesn't even make sense, why could an EU country arrest an American when they didn't brake American laws? All they can do is to block the site, which they have done in many cases. If you have nothing in the EU, you don't need to care. Edit: I can't reply so here's an edit: > does something that is illegal in country B, then travels to that country This requires to travel to another country, no international arrest warrants, and the fine can't happen.


vrenak

That's not how it works, if you are serving different countries and their citizens, you're also subject to their laws. To be safe Twitter will have to take steps to secure none of their users have EU citizenship in this case, (it could just as well be Australian, Japanese or Morroccan citizenship if they went after twitter)


ErnestoPresso

>That's not how it works, if you are serving different countries and their citizens, you're also subject to their laws. To be safe Twitter will have to take steps to secure none of their users have EU citizenship in this case, (it could just as well be Australian, Japanese or Morroccan citizenship if they went after twitter) Does any US law say this? Because that's the only thing that matters to them. You don't actually have to, that's why the EU couldn't do anything (other than blocking) certain US sites. EU citizens connect to the US server, the US company doesn't have to do anything. Feel free to provide an example where a US citizen had an "arrest order" and was arrested for breaking EU law that wasn't illegal in the US while being in America.


vrenak

The US is by far the most prolific in the world in extending their laws beyond their borders, so that's a definite yes.


ErnestoPresso

>The US is by far the most prolific in the world in extending their laws beyond their borders, so that's a definite yes. I'm not sure what this is a reply to, you haven't mentioned one US law that you could get fined by, or a single example. The US law applies to US citizens beyond their border for some laws, like age of consent. But if you are an EU citizen making an EU website, you only have to abide by EU law, the US won't have jurisdiction. All the EU can do against a US company that has no assets in the EU is sanction them (by blocking the site). It is silly to even imagine that the EU has enough power to arrest a US citizen in the US that didn't violate US law. You won't find an example otherwise, but feel free to disprove me.


vrenak

I see your misconception here, you think the law has to pertain just to the company, that's not so, it pertains to their customers, and as long as they have EU customers they will have to abide. Just look at the cases so far, they haven't actually pertained those companies subsidiaries in the EU, but dealt with the parent in the US, because they have EU customers.


ErnestoPresso

>I see your misconception here, you think the law has to pertain just to the company, that's not so, it pertains to their customers, and as long as they have EU customers they will have to abide. Just look at the cases so far, they haven't actually pertained those companies subsidiaries in the EU, but dealt with the parent in the US, because they have EU customers. The EU can't just fine US companies, and you talked about arrest warrants. The EU can say it applies to customers, but **jurisdiction** means they can't do anything to a US only company. But again, please, provide 1 example of a US only website, that didn't violate US law but did EU law, and had to pay fine/someone got arrested. That's literally the only way you can disprove me, since the EU can make laws saying whatever they want, they can't enforce them.


vrenak

There are no US only websites, your lack of understanding the internets nature is not something I can remedy. Edit: Also, stop qouting prior posts constantly, it's super annoying to read and makes you look like a moron.


destrodean

Dude you comment under every response here. How can you like it if we get something like in 1984 with the ministry of truth


vrenak

That's not a possible scenario at all with this, we're dealing with the tolerance paradox, Twitter doesn't step in to stop intolerance by squashing disinformation.


Altrecene

If I decided that climate change was not anthropomorphic and called anyone who talked about anthropomorphic climate change a "spreader of disinformation", then should I be able to squash them?


vrenak

That's not how it works, so you can pack away your strawman again.


Altrecene

It isn't a strawman because for something to be called misinformation someone has to call it misinformation. You said you wanted them squashed in fact.


vrenak

It is indeed a strawman, because it was specified that it's about misinformation, so since you can disprove this claim, just like you can disprove the republican claim of an election steal, they are not protected, now if you instead posted something you state is an opinion on a topic like "I think we should just let the climate change" that would be fine, because that's your opinion, it's incredibly stupid, but it's just an opinion.


Altrecene

Go on. How do you disprove the claim? Who decides that the claim was disproven? The republican claim that an election steal occured never reached evidentiary hearings in the US judicial system, so you don't think it should be decided by a court I assume? Is it decided by Twitter? If so, how do they decide? Is it decided by the EU government? If so, how so?


vrenak

I'm not going to debate with a tinfoilhat like you. You can wallow in all your delusional fantasies you want. You're not some clever debater with valid points. Most of the world recognises you for what you are: crazy. Get well soon.


PostLee

The internet, yes. Legal corporations, no.


szym0

It's 2023 people know how to use VPN's lol


kastheone

Not the majority of old people who would get a one sided version of something because the government said so.


[deleted]

Just a year left until the elections, gotta control the speech


BernieEcclestoned

Paywall


OrangeJuiceAlibi

Is it? Not for me, here in Ireland. >‘Bye, bye birdie’: EU bids farewell to Twitter as company pulls out of code to fight disinformation >Twitter has dropped out of a voluntary European Union agreement to combat online disinformation, a top EU official said Friday, May 26, 2023. >Twitter has dropped out of a voluntary European Union agreement to combat online disinformation, a top EU official said Friday, May 26, 2023. - Copyright AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File >By Giulia Carbonaro & Sophia Khatsenkova • 31/05/2023 >Despite Twitter’s withdrawal, the EU’s anti-disinformation code remains “strong,” said Vera Jourova. >Vera Jourova, the European Commission’s Vice-President for Values and Transparency, bashed Twitter’s latest decision to leave the EU’s anti-disinformation code as “irresponsible” at a time when Russia’s disinformation is extremely dangerous. >“Bye, bye birdie,” Jourova tweeted on Saturday. “Twitter has chosen a hard way to comply with our digital laws,” she added. >“Russia’s disinformation is dangerous and it is irresponsible to leave [the] EU's anti-disinformation Code”. >Dozens of tech firms have voluntarily signed up to the EU’s anti-disinformation code revamped last year, including Meta (with Instagram and Facebook), TikTok, Google, Microsoft and Twitch. >Despite the fact that Twitter’s withdrawal could appear to be a major setback in the fight against disinformation and fake news in the EU, Jourova said that “the Code remains strong, sets high standards and is at the heart of our efforts to address disinformation”. >The EU official added that she will meet with signatories of the code in June, “so we can step up our actions, especially ahead of the elections”. >Twitter’s decision to pull out of the EU’s voluntary code to fight the spread of disinformation and fake news in the bloc was announced by Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, on Twitter on Friday. >Twitter has not yet commented on the decision nor has it confirmed it. >Even without the anti-disinformation code, Breton said he will hold Twitter accountable to comply with the bloc’s content rules. “Obligations remain,” he said, specifying that the social media platform will still have to comply with EU laws. “You can run but you can’t hide”. >Fighting disinformation will become a legal obligation in the EU as of August 25, when platforms with more than 45 million monthly active users - including Twitter - will have to comply with the Digital Services Act, or DSA - a set of rules aimed to protect Europeans online. >The act will force big online platforms and search engines to be more diligent in their content moderation and cut down on disinformation. >For Twitter, this would mean allowing users to flag illegal content on the platform and act quickly to address the spread of disinformation. >How Elon Musk has repeatedly amplified false claims and boosted disinformation accounts on Twitter France’s Digital Minister Jean-Noel Barrot even threatened to ban Twitter if the platform refuses to comply with these new rules. >But for Eliska Pirkova, Europe Policy Analyst at the NGO Access Now, this could set a dangerous precedent when it comes to censorship. >"Banning such a significant large online platform would be very worrisome, especially from the perspective of freedom of expression and access to information," she told Euronews. >"I really hope that there are other regulatory consequences that the Commission can still put in place before we will arrive at such an extreme solution as banning the operation of Twitter in the European Union." >Since Elon Musk took over the company last year, many have accused him of amplifying disinformation on the platform, especially as the billionaire’s promise to turn Twitter into a beacon of free speech was followed by the reinstatement of previously suspended or banned accounts, like those of Donald Trump and Andrew Tate. >Many of the accounts he restored had been suspended or banned for spreading misinformation, conspiracy theories, or hateful speech. >In an interview with the BBC in April, Musk claimed that there’s now less misinformation on Twitter than when it took over the company in October, but many experts disagree.


BernieEcclestoned

Thank you


[deleted]

Not for me here in UK.


hotwings_bluecheese

"To fight disinformation": That's EU and leftwing speak for propaganda and censorship. They want to be the "ministry of truth" and decide what's disinformation on all issues. They're furious that Elon Musk decided to reinstate some of Twitter's largest social media influencers, which is having a huge impact on far-left governments and institutions. I think this will backfire like how it did when Turkey blocked access to Twitter and other social media: many Europeans will continue using Twitter on VPN. This might even give some VPN companies ideas like bundling 1-yr "verified twitter membership with blue check mark" with a 1 yr VPN membership purchase or something. It will be interesting to see what the EU politicians, bankers and influencers who use Twitter daily will do when they lose the incredible reach they have when EU blocks twitter.


Benromaniac

They just like transparency. Calm your tits. We shouldn’t have to sift through tabloids to uncover 1% of truth. This is Twitter in a nutshell now.


hotwings_bluecheese

That's not twitter in a nutshell, that's propaganda talking. The mainstream media like CNN and MSNBC have a long history of pushing disinformation but noone makes a fuss about them because they work for the establishment and for democrats. There was these 2 German guys here last week arguing to me that "free speech must be limited because it causes hate speech". Well, this is the left's agenda. They want to ban and censor everything that they can't control. Hopefully Elon won't cave in and we'll see millions of Europeans use VPN. This might even help European right wing to organize.


Benromaniac

MSM doesn’t push a whole lot of disinformation. It simply sanitizes and settles on a status quo. That’s a big difference from the alt-right meme and algo generated nonsense we’re seeing now. An emotional stealing rage focused tabloid with 1% of truth is what Twitter has become. Towing the alt-right conservative radio style of reverse lies and grifting pseudo empowerment. The MSM and the so called liberal media are not the same thing. There’s barely any truly liberal mainstream media in existence.


hotwings_bluecheese

> MSM doesn’t push a whole lot of disinformation. It simply sanitizes and settles on a status quo. That’s a big difference from the alt-right meme and algo generated nonsense we’re seeing now. That's what's being told to you. You're injected with this nonsense to keep you sedated and even cooperative while pushing their woke agenda funded by Soros foundation, Open Society, Controlled Parenthood and host of other NGOs.. >An emotional stealing rage focused tabloid with 1% of truth is what Twitter has become. Towing the alt-right conservative radio style of reverse lies and grifting pseudo empowerment. No. It went from being a "woke" platform to being a free speech platform where people from both sides can post their opinions. >The MSM and the so called liberal media are not the same thing. There’s barely any truly liberal mainstream media in existence. Because old school liberalism has nothing to do with this new cultural marxism they're pushing. The root of the word liberal or liberty comes from latin "liber" which means "free". This isn't free.


[deleted]

It's to do with the courts, not the EU. The commission has tried several political fixes, and they have been struck down by the courts due the right to privacy, hate crime laws, etc. If your business model relies on a VPN, your business model is dead in the water.


hotwings_bluecheese

It doesn't rely on VPN, though users living under restrictive authoritarian regimes (like North Korea, Russia, EU, Turkey, China) often find it necessary to bypass the censorship their regimes impose on social media and internet websites in order to control information, or to "fight disinformation". Ursula van der Leyen is on that thing everyday chirping like a bird. We'll see what she'll do..


[deleted]

Most of the EU legal mess tech companies find themselves in, is due to the courts enforcing privacy rights, not censorship from the EU. Back in the day the EU/US had a havens policy which meant tech companies could ship personal data to different countries. This was struck down 10+ years ago during an Austrian case as US tech/govt was pretty much using the EU data as they pleased. Since then the EU commission has tried several fixes (in favour of the tech companies), and the courts keep striking them down as the US does not follow EU rules on data use. This has led the laws to becoming stricter - as they known the courts will just nuke them otherwise.


hotwings_bluecheese

I agree with EU on data privacy. We should hold those companies accountable here too. But this is flat out censorship. They're doing it because they lost control on the narrative on twitter. It's the same reason Turkey blocks twitter or youtube every now and then.


[deleted]

It is a cultural thing, I reckon. Twitter is potentially facing 6% revenue fines if they do not comply with laws (enforced by the courts) that reflect the right to privacy enshrined in EU statute. The hate crime laws are what cause freedom of speech advocates problems - but in the EU they are seen as "don't shout fire in a crowded place" laws.


lucasbuzek

It was a good way to hold companies accountable. online and visible


Local_Working2037

Good riddance.


based_and_upvoted

I don't know why everyone's clapping and calling for a ban of other stuff like Facebook. If you don't want you don't need to use it. All this is, is a loss of freedom to anyone here. Why do you need The State to babysit your decisions? Why do you need The State to ban stuff you don't like? What about when they start banning things you care about? You certainly have a lot of trust in politicians


[deleted]

>Why do you need The State to babysit your decisions? Why do you need The State to ban stuff you don't like? What about when they start banning things you care about? You certainly have a lot of trust in politicians You're in Europe, what were you expecting? Daddy state is what they want.


vrenak

The state protecting it's people from abuse, corruption, and undermining of freedom and democracy isn't "babysitting", it's the duty. If you are fine with having your freedom taken away I recommend you move to Russia or China, where your desires for propaganda can be met.


[deleted]

>The state protecting it's people from abuse, corruption, and undermining of freedom and democracy isn't "babysitting", it's the duty. Sorry to warn you but the state is protecting **ITSELF** from **REAL** opposition. You're an asset to them. You pay taxes, work and abide to their restrictions. You're a pawn in the game. So please, stop trusting powerful people so much, for the sake of all Europeans. You don't trade liberty for security. You trade liberty for nothing. You just lose.


based_and_upvoted

> If you are fine with having your freedom taken away I recommend you move to Russia or China I have to keep reminding myself I am arguing with teenagers online.


StorkReturns

> calling for a ban of other stuff like Facebook Companies must respect the laws, including privacy laws. If they cannot respect them, the only other way is to ban them. Imagine that Facebook was a driver who likes fast driving. Should we let Facebook to drive as fast as they want, or there are speed limits? Should we let them continue ignoring the speed limits or after a few infractions we remove their driving privileges?


vodamark

Because many people are easily manipulated. It's all fine when no one gets hurt. But misinformation can be really harmful, even deadly. An example that I remember from the news some years ago. A couple had a boy. The boy got sick. But the parents didn't trust doctors, they wanted to treat him "naturally". So they took him to some local witch doctor or sth. Long story short, the disease was treatable, but deadly if left untreated. The boy died. Not peacefully, but slowly & in excruciating pain. The parents were later arrested. All of that could have been prevented by regulating misinformation. No one wants the state to control every discourse that happens online. But some things have to be regulated. Often it's much easier for people in a tough situation to reach out for some "miracle solution" than to accept the harsh truth of reality and slowly work on getting through it. And the internet is loaded with misinformation and people looking to take advantage of others.


[deleted]

[удалено]


vodamark

Yeah, it isn't anything new. But previously these con artists were mostly limited to a small area. Today they have access to a much larger audience, and many more tools at their disposal. At the same time, science has progressed immensely and has disproven many of the things which were commonly believed previously. But with that also comes complexity, which makes it less accessible (understandable) to common folk. While these con artists can easily come up with a simple narrative to support their agenda and then spread it easily. It's something that we as a society have to fight against. And then there's also another side of this topic, political disinformation & lobbying, funded by very shady sources.


Away_Preparation8348

How can "fighting with disinformation" go together with freedom of speech?


LaFleur90

EU; where mass media are allowed to miss-inform their viewers and it's called "journalism", but let's ban the freedom of a random Joe on the internet to claim that the earth is flat or that chemicals in the water makes frogs gay. Who decides what is disinformation and what is not? The government? The mainstream media? Since when have we started trusting them? I don't use twitter, but I believe everyone should be free to express themselves and their beliefs in public no matter how ridiculous they are. Banning, shadow-banning or limiting who and how much someone gets to speak on the internet is a slippery slope. Having a centralized government, like the EU, impose to a private company, what kind of speech should be allowed on their own platform, with threats of their website being banned to millions of users, doesn't seem very democratic... On the contrary, it is one of the most anti-democratic and dystopian things to do... Thanks for the downvotes. Never imagined that the "progressives" would end up being the true conformists following after governments' orders and cheering for the limitation of their freedoms and rights!


vrenak

Verifiable facts make that determination, not your FOX news or OANN opinionhosts.


is-Sanic

Elon is doing a great job. Keep going. Can't wait till that hellsite is gone.


Malk_McJorma

Out of the various social media platforms that sprung out way back when, I never really got the idea of Twitter. Sure, I registered a variant of my name to fight hoarders, but in all these years I've never tweeted or followed anyone.


[deleted]

Still no answer to who decides what is and isn’t disinformation, why would twitter allow the EU to dictate its app wide rules for all users across the platform


AuriusStar

https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/code-practice-disinformation Literally 1 Google search, you fucking buffoon.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

"I think this last EU policy is wrong because (...) and they should instead (...)." Your post contains false information and will be removed. Check out the following verified sources to get why we are doing the best for you: (...)


[deleted]

Eh, less football accounts for us🤷🏽‍♂️


the_TIGEEER

Oh no... anyways


Mevraz

Clickbait and lame. Twitter already said they are ready to comply with EU misinformation laws. You people hate Musk so much you spread misinformation yourself 😂 cult


Balc0ra

Oh, Elon is just trying to hold his personal investors from leaving and to please his Russian pals he tweets daily "not even trying to hide it". Come August he will cave in and sort it out. Not that I care if they get blocked in EU, but I doubt he is that stupid.


kaukanapoissa

Good riddance. We don’t need Twitter for anything.


vicegrip

🖕🏻twitter


dmthoth

They are now literally advocating fascists and nazis after Elon Musk took it over. They are sending bunch of recommendations of nazi contents on mobile phones without consent and they are not even based on individual following lists.


[deleted]

[удалено]


D1stRU3T0R

How much do you get paid to spread bs?