[threeseed]

Interesting that it is timed with the recent launch of Threads in EU. Will definitely establish a compliance benchmark for X.

But the big problem for X is that Musk burned so many bridges with fired employees that the list of whistleblowers for any issues will be endless.

[rsynnott]

I think the timing is _probably_ coincidental, more down to a bunch of different things happening in European law currently than anything else. The Threads delay seems to be down to Digital Markets Act compliance tweaks (the DMA entered into force earlier this year); this is under the Digital Services Act, which enters into force in two weeks.

> These are the first formal proceedings launched by the Commission to enforce the first EU-wide horizontal framework for online platforms' responsibility, just 3 years from its proposal.

A mere 3 years! This is, in fairness, quite proactive by EC standards.

[Hamuko]

>A mere 3 years! This is, in fairness, quite proactive by EC standards.

Isn't that just because EU rules have quite long transition periods to give companies time to comply with the new rules? GDPR had a two-year transition period before enforcement, and even then there was tons of complaints towards the end of the two-year period on how there just wasn't enough time to comply.

[SiempreViernes]

Well, there are many things that make the EC have a reputation of being slow.

One thing is just the transition periods you mention, then there is the delays caused by the need to have legislation at the EU levels turned into actual national legislation to be implemented.

Then there is the whole trialogue thing where, after first approving a draft law, the EP and the EC have to hold further negotiations on a common text while supervised by the Council, which tended to happen behind closed doors so the experience is that the contentious law that was just approved is quietly sucked into a black hole and then you might hear of it being passed only many many months later.

Finally, we also have instances like with the Chapter 7 investigations against Orban where the commission knows the council is likely to block any conclusions so there's no point in rapidly pushing ahead.

[rsynnott]

Even after that transition period, _serious_ enforcement didn’t start for years. Prior to 2021, the largest fine under the GDPR had been 50 million (in 2021-2023 the Irish regulator lurched into actual and fined Facebook a couple billion).

I suspect the “local regulators do enforcement” model won’t feature heavily in future EU law; it doesn’t work very well.

[fmajid]

Commissioner Breton sent a stark warning to Musk, that was arrogantly brushed off in typical Musk fashion. Musk is now going to be schooled in very expensive fashion as to how being a billionaire does not make you above the laws, in Europe at least, and this is probably why the proceedings were launched, although in all likelihood the EC does not have all its ducks in a row in terms of organization, staffing and processes to enforce the DSA and DMA just yet.

[maxwell]

Which law(s) did they break?

[exceptione]

And about time. The EU (and the US even more so) has been pretty ignorant about the way hostile anti-democratic regimes wage war against free and democratic societies.

For dictatorships a misinformation campaign is both way more effective and cheaper than a single Mig fighter jet. This asymmetric war was already a big problem, but the oligarch Musk might have been too loud a siren for the sleepy lawmakers that believed that democracies will survive no matter how much you are killing its base.

- yes, there are all kind of problems people are rightly upset about.

- yes, politicians have traded trust for political results.

- yes, the US/EU has also failed by opting for "Real Politik" instead of values.

- no, a whattabouttism doesn´t help our societies. Instead, fight to preserve and improve what we inherited.

- no, helping to fuel distrust undercuts the fabric of our societies.

[exceptione]

Never thought a plea to save our democracies by making a distinction between honest criticism one the hand, and sponsored covid disinformation campaigns on the other would attract this response.

Ones wrong opinions are absolutely tolerated. We all have them. Hybrid warfare is something else and should not be.

Disinformation is not harmless: half of the US believes that the elections were stolen. If people don´t believe in democracy anymore, it is game over without people realizing it.

[flanked-evergl]

> But the big problem for X is that Musk burned so many bridges with fired employees that the list of whistleblowers for any issues will be endless.

That is great, I don't think any company should rely on employee trust to keep illegal practices under wraps. If you put it like this maybe it would be good for Meta to piss off their employees also so we can also get some insight into their illegal practices.

[whywhywhywhy]

How will they whistleblow against him if he fired them in the first week before he did anything?

[threeseed]

Because he didn't fire everyone in the first week.