Twitter "will be banned" from the European Union in case of violation of its rules, said Monday the French Minister delegate for digital Jean-Noël Barrot, who also worried about a future European regulation "excessive" in terms of artificial intelligence (AI). "Twitter, if it does not comply with our rules, will be banned, in case of recurrence, from the European Union," Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told Franceinfo.
This statement comes after Twitter's official release of the European Union's code of practice against online disinformation, announced Saturday by European Commissioner for Industry Thierry Breton. The latter had recalled in a message on Twitter that the social network, led by American billionaire Elon Musk, remained legally subject to compliance with European rules.
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Twitter plays an important role in the public debate, but we cannot take the risk that a social network such as Twitter will be held hostage by the supporters of disinformation and, as a result, our public debate, our democracy will be affected," insisted Jean-Noël Barrot. "That's why we've established clear rules and Twitter will have to comply," he added.
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'Excessive' position of the European Parliament
Asked about the future European regulation on generative artificial intelligence (the "AI Act") currently under discussion, the French minister, while acknowledging the need to "give a framework" to the development of AI, tackled the positioning of the European Parliament which risks "taking the European Union out of technological history".
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At this stage, the position of the European Parliament is excessive because it imposes audit obligations, transparency obligations that are excessive for this type of models," he said. These AI models "are the subject of a frantic race in which we must not be left behind, otherwise we would lock ourselves into decades of subjugation and technological dependence," he continued, calling for "investment" in the field.
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It is imperative to have in the coming months models such as those developed by these American giants, "he concluded, recalling that Google had for the moment given up deploying its Bard AI in the EU, in the face of regulatory constraints.
