(Reuters) – Elon Musk relaxing content moderation policies on Twitter is “a giant issue”, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday in an interview on television show Good Morning America.
The Musk-owned social media platform earlier this week decided to roll back a policy geared toward tackling misinformation related to COVID-19, raising the danger of false news as infections rise in China and elsewhere.
Since buying Twitter in October, the world’s richest man has also reinstated some previously suspended accounts, including that of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Last week, Musk said the platform will provide a “general amnesty” to some suspended accounts.
“Free speech and democracy is predicated on respect and public order. You’ll be able to display, you may have free speech, you may write what you would like, but there are responsibilities and limits,” Macron said within the interview, adding that he’s in favor of more regulation.
The comments come after a report that the European Union has threatened Twitter with a ban unless Musk abides by its strict rules on content moderation.
Twitter and Musk didn’t immediately reply to Reuters requests for comment.
Musk said last month that Twitter was experiencing a “massive drop in revenue” as advertisers pause spending. He blamed civil rights groups which were pressing the platform’s top advertisers to take motion if he didn’t protect content moderation.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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