Elon Musk said he would form a policy advisory body made up of those with “diverse viewpoints” to oversee decisions on content moderation. Any decisions about restoring the account of former President Donal Trump will have to wait. In the meantime, Musk made decisions to allow at least one controversial person back on Twitter. Twitter already had an advisory council in place. (TechCrunch, October 28, 2022, by Taylor Hatmaker)
Just before taking over Twitter, Musk sent a letter to advertisers saying he didn’t want the platform to become “a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences.” He said he wanted to acquire the platform to provide a digital town square for healthy debate on issues without the threat of violence. (Politico, October 27, 2022, by Kelly Garrity)
Musk has gone on to tell the European Union that he will comply with their Digital Services Act. The EU can fine companies as much as six percent of their sales for publishing illegal content. (Fox Business, October 31, 2022, by Lucas Manfredi)
Although in the U.S. the First Amendment forbids government interference in private companies regulation of their social media platforms, the European Union’s Digital Services Act, to take effect in 2024, requires content moderation to limit lies, hate speech and extreme political viewpoints. (Slate, October 27, 2022, by Jared Schroeder)