Elon Musk buying Twitter has set him up for a scuffle with the EU

Chris Potter-Walker

The European Union may be able to regulate Musk's new toy.

Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and the digital town square is where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated, according to Musk.

The balance of power in the tech industry has shifted in recent months as governments attempt to gain more control over social media.

The European Union agreed to give it the right to police how platforms moderate content, two days before Musk agreed to a deal with Twitter. Up to 6 per cent of their global turnover could be banned if they didn't do so. If fined, Musk would have to hand over up to $304.8 million.

In an interview with the Financial Times today, the EU's commissioner for the internal market said there are rules.

I expect that Musk will find that European understandings of freedom of expression are more nuanced than the one he sees in the US.

Musk said he would like to see changes to his social networking site more in line with what the DSA has to offer. Musk has previously said he intends to make the recommendation system open-sourced, which would allow users to better understand why they are presented with particular content.

If Musk wants to operate in the European Union, he will have to decide whether to obey the new provisions of the DSA globally or only apply them in EU countries. The General Data Protection Regulation has become a defacto global law as platform holders apply it to all users.

The DSA could allow Musk to allow the return of people who have previously been banned. Many observers have already taken Musk's calls for increased free speech as an indication that he would welcome back users who have previously kicked off the site for spreading hate, including former US president Donald Trump, who has set up his own social network, Truth Social. The DSA wants users to be allowed to challenge moderation decisions on platforms, which would give a legal mechanism for ostracised users to reactive their accounts.

Musk's posturing on free speech and removing censorship comes across as childish and nave.

Musk already runs businesses in highly regulated markets, including cars, drilling, and space.