Twitter / X Leaving Europe

About

Twitter / X Leaving Europe refers to a rumor by X / Twitter owner Elon Musk in which he is reported to be "increasingly frustrated" with the Europan Union's (EU) new Digital Services Act (DSA) and plans to pull the social media platform out of the EU. The report from Insider became a trending topic in October 2023, inspiring memes, jokes and discussions on social media surrounding the controversy.

Overview

On October 18th, 2023, the news website Insider^[1] released a report stating that Elon Musk is considering taking X "out of Europe amid EU compliance investigation." The article explains that Musk is "increasingly frustrated" with the EU's then-recent Digital Services Act (DSA), as the new law^[2] designates big tech corporations like Meta, Alphabet and X to be legally responsible for the content that users post to their platforms (unlike in the U.S. where Section 230 protects them).

The YouTube^[3] news channel @WION explained Musk's rumors (shown below), amassing over 3,500 views and 31 likes in two days.

Developments

On October 19th, 2023, Elon Musk^[4] responded to a tweet about the Insider report saying, "Yet another utterly false Business Insider. They are not a real publication." The post (shown below), received more than 8,200 likes and 2,400 retweets in a day.

Online Reactions

The possibility of X leaving Europe ignited a debate on social media, as some users disagreed with Musk's management of the platform. For instance, on October 19th, 2023, X^[5] user posted a meme of Homelander from The Boys TV series paired with the caption "Twitter leaving Europe? I'll be freeeeeeeee." The post (shown below, amassed roughly 5 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References