London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Oct 26, 2025

Twitter faces renewed scrutiny over disinformation in Europe 

Twitter faces renewed scrutiny over disinformation in Europe 

The platform is unlikely to be able to meet commitments on cracking down on propaganda.
Twitter looks likely to stumble in its first major test when it comes to fighting propaganda and disinformation in the European Union.

Six months ago — well before it was taken over by Elon Musk — the platform agreed to step up such efforts under an updated EU anti-disinformation charter, the European Commission's so-called code of practice on disinformation, which kicks in from Friday. 

But Musk’s social media network appears sorely unprepared for the task after the tech mogul has, in a matter of weeks, lifted Twitter's ban on 1COVID1-19 pandemic misinformation, unbanned controversial users like former U.S. President Donald Trump, and fired much of its staff. This points to a grim outlook for Twitter's compliance with the code, according to some of those involved in the charter's task force.

With Musk “personally promoting conspiracy theories and other forms of disinformation that have resulted in real harm in the past, it's hard to be optimistic,” said Carlos Hernández, head of public policy of the Spanish-language fact-checking organization Maldita.es, one of the signatories that has been working with the charter’s task force in the last six months. 

In another sign of Musk's plans for the platform, Twitter’s board of experts advising the company on its content policy, the Trust and Safety Council, was disbanded this week.  

Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton warned Musk in a video call in late November about Twitter’s “huge work ahead … to tackle disinformation with resolve.”

Over 30 signatories to the code of practice — including tech companies like Twitter, Meta, TikTok and Google — will have to ensure those peddling falsehoods can’t make money on their platforms, as well as label political ads and make more data available to researchers. 

The code is nonbinding, but if companies sign up to it, they can use the code's provision to offset some of their regulatory risks in the separate Digital Services Act (DSA), an online content law that carries fines of up to 6 percent of a company’s global revenue for infractions. The DSA will apply from summer 2023 for the largest companies and early 2024 for the others.

Companies will then have until January 16 to hand the Commission a detailed report on how they’ve been doing on some of the more than 100 measures they pledged to follow in the previous month. Afterward, the largest platforms will have to submit their reports every six months; smaller ones will submit once a year.

The report "will be a first test case on how serious the risk of disinformation is handled, including how adequate budget and staffing of these companies are to live up to their commitment under our [code] against disinformation," said European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová.

Under the DSA, very large online platforms will face new obligations to stem potential harms, such as the proliferation of disinformation and hoaxes during crises, or else face hefty fines. Repeated violations could also lead to being banned in the EU, though that threat is unlikely to be followed through on because, in other regulatory areas like competition, European enforcers have almost never used the full powers at their disposal. Instead, the bloc has a track record of incremental enforcement.

Pitched in 2018 as a tool to encourage tech companies to more forcefully tackle falsehoods, the EU’s code of practice on disinformation was strengthened this year with more precise objectives. 

A new task force was also set up with signatories, including platforms, advertising bodies and nonprofits, as well as European media regulators and the EU’s foreign affairs department, to work on the charter, cooperate and exchange information about coordinated foreign-run manipulation campaigns during elections. 

According to three people involved in the group, Camino Rojo, Twitter’s head of public policy for Spain, is still coming to those meetings after Twitter's Brussels office emptied out. 

Yet, this hasn’t assuaged some concerns. 

“The people who negotiated this for a year, who understood the code and the precise expectations, are all gone,” said Hernández. “It's impossible to substitute that knowledge in a few weeks.”

Neither Twitter nor Rojo replied to requests for comments. 

Twitter’s content-moderation teams have either been fired or left the company since Musk’s takeover in October. Under the disinformation charter, the company agreed to “dedicate adequate financial and human resources” to tackle disinformation and to outline in its report the teams working on the charter across the bloc and in the different European languages. It is unclear who, if anyone, at Twitter is looking at this problem connected to the EU’s code of practice on disinformation.

But another person involved in this work, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also pointed out that Twitter had already slowed down its work on implementing the code before Musk's arrival. 

“Twitter hasn't been very engaged in the process for a long time — even before Musk took over,” said a member of the task force, who asked for anonymity. 

A European Commission spokesperson said, “We expect Twitter to live up to their commitments and to report on their measures — including on tackling [1COVID1-19] disinformation — in their first report, due in January.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
×