A team of European Union regulators met with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday to help the company prepare its social media platforms -- including Facebook and Instagram -- for new online harms legislation in the 27-country bloc due to come into force in August. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI |
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June 23 (UPI) -- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will meet with the European Union's top digital regulator Friday as U.S. social media platforms rush to prepare for new online legislation aimed at combating disinformation, cyberbullying and threats to public safety.
The meeting is part of a two-day visit to California by an EU team led by Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton ahead of the bloc's new Digital Services Act which comes into force in August with the group also scheduled to meet with Open AI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia president Jensen Huang.
The team carried out its first "stress test" to check compliance with DSA at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters on Thursday, praising the company for its attitude.
"Twitter is the 1st platform to undergo a 'stress test' to prepare for DSA. The company is taking this exercise very seriously. Constructive dialogue in San Francisco with Elon Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino ahead of the 'real test' -- on Aug. 25," Breton wrote in a Twitter post.
He added that deploying "sufficient resources" was key to meeting the safeguards set down by the legislation which requires platforms with more than 45 million EU users to submit an in-depth initial assessment of the risks their customers face by August 25.
Yaccarino, who took over as Twitter CEO from Elon Musk earlier this month, said Europe was "very important to Twitter" and that the company was "focused on our continued partnership."
In addition to Twitter, other tech firms targeted by DSA include Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Google's YouTube and TikTok.
In May, Musk triggered a public spat with Breton when he pulled Twitter out of the EU's voluntary online disinformation code of practice which most major social media platforms have signed up to with Breton warning that while Twitter could shirk optional commitments, it would not be able to avoid complying with DSA.
Twitter agreed to adhere to the code in 2018 prior to Musk's acquisition of the company in October.
Australia's online watchdog on Thursday blamed Twitter's withdrawal of its public policy presence in the country together with slashing its workforce by 80% for a surge in cases of "inexcusable" online hate and serious abuse affecting 1 in 5 people, with indigenous, disabled and LBGTQ groups suffering disproportionately.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant gave Twitter 28 days to respond to a notice ordering it to show what it is doing to combat the problem or face fines of up to $475,000 a day.
