Twitter closed its offices in Brussels on Thursday, following the departure of two of the company's senior managers in Europe. This move is a result of the platform's refusal to adapt to the EU's Digital Services Act, which went into effect last week. The new policy outlines how technology companies must operate under the excuse of keeping "users safe."
The vice-president of the European Commission (EU), responsible for the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation, Vera Jourová, expressed to the Financial Times that she "is concerned about the news of firing of a vast number of staff of Twitter in Europe" and mentioned that the EU fears that the social network will no longer comply with European rules regarding privacy and online security:
Especially in the context of the Russian disinformation war, I expect Twitter to fully respect EU law and honor its commitments. Twitter has been a very useful partner in the fight against disinformation and illegal hate speech and this must not change if you want to effectively detect and take action against disinformation and propaganda, this requires resources.
Musk calls for a "hardcore working culture"
The Times reveals that Julia Mozer and Dario La Nasa, Twitter's senior managers in Europe, left the company last week. It is unknown whether they left voluntarily or were laid off. The executives were in charge of the company's digital policy in Europe, specifically for bringing the company into compliance with the EU disinformation code.
Mozer and Nasa survived the first round of layoffs. Musk had already laid off half of the headquarters workforce, about 7,500 people, but they "no longer work there after the company's new owner issued an ultimatum last week demanding that staff commit to a "hardcore working culture."
