Twitter / X: Elon Musk considers a petty move to escape EU disinformation scrutiny

Is Elon Musk preparing to pull X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, out of the EU entirely?

It appears that he's currently considering the option, according to a new report from Insider. 

Elon Musk allegedly wants to remove X from Europe

A source familiar with the company told Insider that Musk is "increasingly frustrated" with the EU's new Digital Services Act (DSA). The law, which went into effect in late August, designates big-tech companies with millions of users – like Meta, Google, and X – as "Very Large Online Platforms." Under the law, companies with this designation are legally responsible for the content that users post to their platforms. Disinformation and privacy violations, as well as harmful and illegal posts, are some of the content types that violate the law.

Europe accounts for nine percent of X's global monthly active user base, according to data from mobile analytics firm Apptopia. However, as Insider notes, daily usage of X has dropped significantly in recent months – not just in the EU but worldwide as well.

X app on mobile Credit: Shutterstock

Musk's handling of content moderation on the platform has been criticized by some users since his takeover. However, the vast amount of disinformation spreading on the service since the Hamas attack in Israel has taken the issue to a new level. For example, Musk himself endorsed two accounts that frequently share fake news with more than 150 million followers on the weekend of the attacks.

Last week, EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton sent a warning to X about a potential for investigation under the DSA due to X's failure to moderate content. In response, Musk challenged Breton to provide examples publicly on the X platform. X CEO Linda Yaccarino took the issue a bit more seriously, responding with a letter summarizing X's actions since the Oct. 7 attacks. 

However, it appears Yaccarino's letter, which mainly put the content moderation onus on X users via the Community Notes crowdsourced fact-checking feature, didn't convince EU officials. The EU officially requested information from X late last week as part of an official investigation, the first under the DSA.

If Musk's company is found to be violating the DSA, the EU can impose a fine of up to six percent of X's global revenue.

If X is pulled out of the EU, it would certainly cause a drop in the platform's traffic and user base. But it wouldn't be the first decision from Musk that negatively affects his platform's growth. Earlier this week, X announced that it's launching a trial in New Zealand and the Philippines that charges new users a yearly $1 fee for posting or interacting with content.