"The bird is freed," tech billionaire Elon Musk wrote upon acquiring Twitter in October of last year. EU Commissioner Thierry Breton shot back: "In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules." That early exchange exposed two starkly different views of social media: a haven of free speech, as Musk would have it; or a place where freedom goes hand in hand with protecting users from illegal content – the EU's approach.
The European Digital Services Act, or DSA – a content moderation law, in effect – has already come into force. But it will be phased in gradually this year. Twitter has been told it has "huge work ahead" to meet its obligations under the new Act.
