(Reuters) – The European Union told Elon Musk to hire more human moderators and fact-checkers to review posts on Twitter, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing four people familiar with talks between Musk, Twitter executives and regulators in Brussels.
The demand complicates Musk’s efforts to reorganize the loss-making business he acquired for $44 billion in October. He has slashed more than half of Twitter’s 7,500 staff, including the entire trust and safety teams in some offices, while seeking cheaper methods to monitor tweets, the report said.
The massive layoffs have raised concerns if Twitter can comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act that requires internet platforms to put specific measures in place against illegal content, before the law comes into full effect in early 2024.
Twitter has been leaning heavily on automation to moderate content, doing away with certain manual reviews. It does not employ fact checkers, unlike larger rival Meta Platforms Inc, which owns Facebook and Instagram, the report said.
European Union industry chief Thierry Breton on a video call in January warned Musk of “huge work ahead” for Twitter to apply transparent use policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech.
(This story has been refiled to correct day to Tuesday in paragraph 1)
(Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
