Twitter, Vimeo, WordPress push for EU flexibility in new rules to take down illegal content

Twitter, Vimeo, Mozilla and WordPress.com’s owner Automattic asked the EU to take a flexible strategy towards harmful and illegal online content instead of blanket rules requiring content removal. The companies said such an approach would help preserve an open internet. The companies made their demand in a joint open letter published on 9 December, a week before EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager is due to present her draft rules known as the Digital Services Act, Reuters reports. The rules aim to make bigger companies more responsible for removing illegal and harmful content as soon as they have been notified. The companies said that limiting the number of people who encounter harmful content would be a better solution than removing content altogether. They said blunt content removal obligations could have a negative impact on freedom of expression. The companies said new EU rules should also take into account the rise of decentralised hosting of content and data.
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