The European Commission has fined Elon Musk’s X Corp €120 Million for failing to comply with the EU’s ‘Digital Services Act’, which is Brussels-speak for their censorship charter. Apparently X Corp neglected to meet the EU’s ‘transparency obligations’, with the European Commission saying X’s blue checkmark is “deceptive,” and that the company had failed to provide access to public data required by the law. If there’s one thing the EU loves, it’s punishing American tech companies. When was the last time a world-leading tech giant grew out of Europe?
The European Commission’s Executive Vice President for Tech Sovereignty (yes that is a real title) Henna Virkkunen said:
“We’re not here to impose the highest fines, we’re here to make sure that our digital legislation is enforced. If you comply with our rules, you don’t get a fine.”
She added that the fine was “proportionate” to the “nature of these infringements, their gravity in terms of affected EU users, and their duration“. Asked for a more specific breakdown, Virkkunen claimed it “drilled down to a simple economic formula”. So presumably it just depends on which side of bed she woke up on that day…
US Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday:
“Rumors swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage.”
Now the rumours are a reality…
Elon Musk’s X has attacked the UK government for threatening free speech and encouraging censorship with the implementation of the Online Safety Act. In a statement released this afternoon, the social media giant said:
“To date, regulators have taken a heavy-handed approach by rapidly increasing enforcement resources, adding layers of bureaucratic oversight and signaling an aggressive approach to ensuring compliance. Instead of specifically and collaboratively addressing a problem everyone agrees needs to be solved, many are now concerned that a plan ostensibly intended to keep children safe is at risk of seriously infringing on the public’s right to free expression.
This risk is not a surprise to the UK government. When lawmakers approved these measures, they made a conscientious decision to increase censorship in the name of “online safety.” It is fair to ask if UK citizens were equally aware of the trade-off being made.”
The company goes on to say that “without a more balanced, collaborative approach, free speech will suffer“, and the government’s timetable for meeting mandatory implementation measures “has been unnecessarily tight“. Just yesterday, the Act caused a benign, parodic image of Keir Starmer’s head on a baby’s body to be blocked entirely from X…
Read the full statement below:
Continue reading “Musk’s X Blasts UK Government Over Online Safety Act Censorship”
Peter Kyle threatened to shut down X on Newsnight last night. This is where it has go to…
Ofcom rules requiring age verification for explicit content – with the onus on platforms – came into force at midnight. A gift to scammers and a massive threat to privacy which can be avoided by anyone tech-savvy enough to download a VPN…
In a bizarre conversation on Newsnight Paddy O’Connell offered to “go on X now, we can look on it together and I can find some porn” for Kyle and pressed the Science Secretary on whether he could shut down the platform if it didn’t comply with new requirements to withhold pornographic content from children:
“Britain has the power to shut down any platform.”
Onerous restrictions moving responsibility for content on platforms to the companies that run them are already threatening access to Wikipedia. If Ofcom and Labour keeps going the UK will end up a privacy-free digital desert…
Kyle promised to platforms who did not follow Ofcom strictures “we will go after you” and added “access to the British society and economy is a privilege and not a right.” To be controlled by Labour from now on…
Despite The Guardian quitting Musk’s X in a tantrum last year it is still paying the company to the tune of thousands of pounds. Nice of them…
Co-conspirators will remember the paper declaring: “The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.” Its bio on X says: “This account has been archived.” Money is still changing hands however…
Seeing as the account still has a gold tick for a verified organisation and its political editor Pippa Crerar has an affiliate account with the little Guardian logo next to her name the paper is still subscribed as a Full Access verified organisation. Price tag attached to that…
The Guardian has to pay for Crerar’s affiliate account along with some others such as live blogger Graeme Wearden – that brings the total bill for seven months of having “quit” X to upwards of either £7,350 or £8,680 depending on whether the bill is paid monthly or annually. Tidy sum…
Hilariously every author page on the website features a link to the individual’s X account. In addition Guardian journalists are still highly active on X which everyone has returned to with tails between legs after saying they would be over on Bluesky. Crerar last posted on the alternative platform nine days ago. The pol ed has tweeted over twenty times since then…
New analysis from the Reuters Institute today shows that X has become politically neutral over the past three years. As co-conspirators will remember it used to be a left-wing sneering cesspit…
A wide gamut of countries were selected:
In the UK the situation was even worse in 2021:
Establishment commentators and journalists have of course been complaining about this due to the fact their smug views now receive proportionally less lavish praise. Some decamped to Bluesky – then came straight back…
No doubt this will be pitched by those same figures as Musk dragging the platform to the right. Nature is healing…
Three long months have passed since Bluesky addict Jon Sopel last posted to the platform. At the time of going to pixel, that’s over 2,189 hours since Sopel dropped in on his vast Bluesky fanbase, despite publicly declaring he would leave Musk’s X permanently last November. He’s posted five times on X in the last twenty-four hours alone.
Guido has previously reported on Bluesky users’ anguish at Sopel’s prolonged, unannounced sabbatical. Without a regular supply of his incisive commentary, they may face a reluctant return to Musk’s playground. Spare a thought…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”
