Twitter risks being banned from the European Union if it does not comply with the bloc’s rules on the fight against disinformation, the French Minister of Digital Transition, Jean Noël Barrot, warned on Monday.
“If Twitter does not comply with our rules, it will be banned, in the event of a repeat offence, in the European Union”, Barrot said in an interview on public radio France Infor.
The French minister recalled at the end of August will enter into force in the EU a series of rules for social networks, which include, for example, the end of advertising intended expressly for minors or “the obligation to actively combat disinformation”.
If they do not comply with the new rules, companies would receive fines in a first step “Very strong”, of 6% of its worldwide turnover, some 300 million euros in the case of Twitter, he specified.
Although he acknowledged that Twitter “plays an important role in public debate”, he reiterated that “We cannot run the risk that a social network like Twitter will be taken hostage by supporters of disinformation and that our democracy will be affected.”.
In this sense, he recalled that the traditional media are subject to systems of responsibility for the content they publish, something that does not happen with social networks.
And although he pointed out that “desire“of that Twitter”can be adjusted” to the European standards that come into force on August 25, Barrot insisted that, otherwise, “will not be welcome in Europe”.
Barrot He also pointed out that social networks do not verify the age of their users, so that in France the first registration occurs on average at eight and a half years, while the companies themselves recommend “in general” is from the age of thirteen.
“It’s too soon”, he lamented, and stressed that parental consent will also be required within a series of actions by the French Government that also seek to curb minors’ access to online pornographic content.
“We are going to make social networks enter an era of responsibility“, summarized.
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
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