EU Tech Chief warns Elon Musk: In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules

Thierry Breton, the EU's internal markets commissioner, warned Musk on Twitter that the microblogging site will have to follow EU rules. "In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules," Breton said in response to Elon Musk's initial tweet, "the bird is free."

In early May of this year, Breton went to Texas and chatted with Musk about his free-speech approach to Twitter. He also reminded him that this approach must remain limited by the EU's own content moderation laws. At the time, neither had "any disagreement" about their policy regarding the content being managed or posted on Twitter.

Musk is aware of the fact that many people believe that he bought Twitter for the wrong reasons. In a note posted to advertisers, Musk said he is not buying Twitter to make more money or to spread hate. In addition, he has clarified that he does not want Twitter "to become a hell of all against all, where you can say anything without consequences".

He will remain free from violence or dangerous posts, something he explained on Twitter. Musk says he wants people to provide a platform where a wide range of beliefs can be discussed healthily without resorting to violence.

The EU Digital Services Law allows the government to compel big tech companies to limit the spread of illegal and harmful content and act against disinformation. So if Musk fails to comply in the future, Twitter will face a fine of around 6 per cent of annual sales and could even be banned from the region, according to a report by Bloomberg.