LONDON (AP) \u2014 Twitter has dropped out of a voluntary European Union agreement to combat online disinformation, a top EU official said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
European Commissioner Thierry Breton\u00a0tweeted\u00a0that Twitter had pulled out of the EU\u2019s disinformation \u201ccode of practice\u201d that other major social media platforms have pledged to support. But he added that Twitter\u2019s \u201cobligation\u201d remained, referring to the EU\u2019s\u00a0tough new digital rules\u00a0taking effect in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can run but you can\u2019t hide,\u201d Breton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
San Francisco-based Twitter responded with an automated reply, as it does to most press inquiries, and did not comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision to abandon the commitment to fighting false information appears to be the latest move by billionaire owner Elon Musk to loosen the reins on the social media company after he bought it last year. He has rolled\u00a0back previous anti-misinformation rules, and has thrown its verification system and content-moderation policies into chaos as he pursues his goal of turning Twitter into a\u00a0digital town square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Google, TikTok, Microsoft and Facebook and Instagram parent Meta are among those that have signed up to the EU code, which requires companies to measure their work on combating disinformation and issue regular reports on their progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were already signs Twitter wasn\u2019t prepared to live up to its commitments. The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc\u2019s executive arm,\u00a0blasted Twitter earlier this year\u00a0for failing to provide a full first report under the code, saying it provided little specific information and no targeted data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breton said that under the new digital rules that incorporate the code of practice, fighting disinformation will become a \u201clegal obligation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur teams will be ready for enforcement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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