Twitter Says It Removed 6.5 Million Pieces of Content in First Half of 2022 Before Elon Musk's Takeover

Twitter on Tuesday said it required users to take down over 6.5 million pieces of content in the first half of 2022, before the social media platform was taken over by billionaire Elon Musk, a 29 percent increase from the second half of 2021.

Twitter disclosed the number of content removals in a blog post on the same day the European Union said the social media platform would be among 19 tech companies subject to new landmark rules that require them to share data with authorities, do more to tackle disinformation and conduct external and independent auditing.

Failure to comply with the rules - some of the world's strictest regulations on online platforms - could result in fines of up to 6 percent of global revenue or even a ban from operating in the EU, according to the European Commission's website.

Before Musk purchased Twitter in October and cut roughly 80 percent of its staff, Twitter normally published twice-yearly reports on its Transparency Center website, detailing information such as the number of accounts it suspended and the number of government requests it received for data.

Twitter's update on Tuesday came in the form of a short blog post, and the company said it would give an update about its "path forward for transparency reporting" later this year.

Publishing transparency reports is one of the requirements under the EU's new internet rules.

The company said it received 53,000 legal requests from governments during the first half of 2022 to remove certain content, with Japan, South Korea, Turkey and India submitting the most requests.

Twitter did not disclose the number of requests it complied with.

© Thomson Reuters 2023