French President Emmanuel Macron criticizes Musk for relaxing Twitter’s content rules

French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview on Thursday’s television show Good Morning America that Elon Musk’s easing of Twitter’s content moderation policies was a “big problem”.

The Musk-owned social media platform decided earlier this week to roll back a policy aimed at addressing misinformation related to COVID-19. This increases the risk of false news as infections rise in China and elsewhere.

Since buying Twitter in October, the world’s richest man has reinstated several previously suspended accounts, including that of former President Donald Trump. It said it would offer a “general pardon” for the department’s suspended accounts.

“Freedom of speech and democracy are based on respect and public order. You can act, you have freedom of speech, you can write what you want, but there are responsibilities and limits,” Macron said in an interview. added that it was in favor. of more regulations.

The comments come after reports that the European Union has threatened to ban Twitter unless Musk follows strict rules on content moderation.

Twitter and Musk did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Musk said last month that Twitter was experiencing a “significant drop in revenue” as advertisers paused spending. He accused civil rights groups of pressuring the platform’s top advertisers to take action if he doesn’t protect the moderation of their content.