Twitter is willing to comply with EU's Digital Services Act, says Breton

Thierry Breton, the European Union’s commissioner for the internal market, has revealed that Twitter has a strong willingness to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act, which comes into force in August. The DSA has two main aims: the establishment of a level playing field for businesses and the creation of a safer digital space.

The decision by Twitter to engage with the EU and follow the DSA comes several months after Breton told Musk that Twitter would fly by the EU’s rules. The comment was made after Musk took over Twitter and the company was beginning to feel the backlash over some of Musk’s comments about how the platform should operate.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Breton made the remarks about Twitter’s intention to comply with the rules after an EU team visited the company’s headquarters this week. The team has been performing stress tests to see how well the platform complies with the new law.

Speaking to a reporter, Breton said that he didn’t need to take Twitter’s word that it would follow the law. Instead, he said that the law would be enforced and if Twitter doesn’t comply then it’ll feel the repercussions.

The EU won’t be releasing the results of the stress tests but Twitter now knows where it needs to make changes to get in line with the new law. According to a tweet from Breton, Twitter is the first platform to undergo a stress test as part of the DSA but the EU will also want to see how other companies respond too.

Linda Yaccarino, Twitter’s new CEO, is seen as a more steady pair of hands to run the company compared with Elon Musk. She said that the EU is very important to Twitter and that the company is focused on its continued partnership with the bloc.