EU rules for social media platforms are being enforced

In the face of attacks from tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk has EU Digital Commissioner Henna Virkkunen announced consistent enforcement of the rules for online networks applicable in the European Union. “Our job is to ensure that the rights of European citizens are respected and that our legislation is followed,” Virkkunen wrote on Saturday on the online service X, which is owned by Musk.

The EU is concerned with “creating a level playing field and a safe online environment for everyone,” emphasized the Finn. “In Europe we want to create a digital environment that is safe and fair.”

Virkkunen did not mention Zuckerberg and Musk by name, but their statements can be understood as a response to their attacks. Zuckerberg accused the EU of “censorship”. In an interview on Friday with the podcaster Joe Rogan, the head of the Meta Group appealed to the future US President Donald Trump to protect the big tech companies from fines in the EU.

Reversal of course on Facebook and Instagram

A few days earlier, Zuckerberg had announced in a change of course that his company would discontinue the fact-checking program on the Facebook and Instagram services, but initially only in the USA. He justified this by saying that “fact-checkers were simply too politically biased” and “particularly in the US, they destroyed more trust than they created.”

Zuckerberg announced that a “community notes” system should instead be introduced in the meta services in the USA, in which users can add their own context to a post. The Meta boss took the line of Musk, who represents right-wing populist views and spreads conspiracy theories and was appointed government advisor by Trump.

Musk has long been violently attacking the EU because of its regulations. The EU rules for online services (Digital Services Act, DSA) require large online platforms, among other things, to delete false information and “illegal content” such as glorification of terrorism or depictions of sexual violence more quickly than before.