EU Orders Twitter To Employ More Staff To Curb Misleading Post: Reports

The European Union (EU) has advised Elon Musk to employ more human moderators and fact-checkers to scrutinise posts on Twitter

According to reports, the demand came in following EU’s plan to implement the Digital Services Act, which is to mandate internet platforms, placing specific measures to control illegal content.

The report claims that Musk has laid off nearly half of Twitter’s staff, 7,500 of its employees approximately. This also includes the entire trust and safety teams in some offices, in an effort to curb the business losses faced in October which was near to USD 44 billion.

Meanwhile, the EU's orders for greater moderation are likely to complicate the process of streamlining the company's operations while complying with the forthcoming legislation.

For now, Twitter is estimated to heavily rely on automation mode for content moderation, reducing the need for manual reviews. Unlike its competitors such as Meta Platforms, Twitter does not currently employ fact-checkers.

According to reports, EU industry chief Thierry Breton earlier warned Musk of significant challenges Twitter was to face in the near future, which includes transparent use and application of policies, reinforcing content moderation and protecting freedom of speech.

It added, without greater investment in moderation efforts, Twitter would not be able to comply with the Digital Services Act.

However, EU's push for greater moderation brings good news for the laid-off employees as it may force Musk to reassess his strategy and potentially increase staffing levels to comply with the legislation.