Twitter announced on Tuesday that it had to remove over 6.5 million pieces of content in the first half of 2022, prior to the acquisition of the platform by Elon Musk. This figure marks a 29 percent increase compared to the latter half of 2021.
The social media company shared these statistics in a blog post coinciding with the European Union’s announcement that Twitter will be included among 19 tech companies subject to new regulations. These regulations mandate that companies share data with authorities, enhance efforts to combat disinformation, and undergo external independent audits.
Noncompliance with these strict regulations could lead to fines of up to 6 percent of global revenue or potentially a ban from operating within the EU, as outlined by the European Commission.
Prior to Musk’s takeover in October, which resulted in the reduction of about 80 percent of its workforce, Twitter routinely published biannual reports on its Transparency Center website. These reports provided insights into various metrics, including account suspensions and government requests for data.
The update released on Tuesday was notably brief, with Twitter indicating that it would later provide a report on its future approach to transparency reporting.
Compliance with transparency reporting is now a requirement under the EU’s new internet regulations.
During the first half of 2022, Twitter reported receiving 53,000 legal requests from governments demanding the removal of specific content, with Japan, South Korea, Turkey, and India being the top requesters.
However, Twitter did not disclose how many of these requests it chose to comply with.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
