Guten tag, Elon Musk

Hi, it’s Aggi in Berlin. German lawmakers want to know if a post-layoff Twitter can handle content moderation. But first…Today’s must-reads: [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hi, it’s Aggi in Berlin. German lawmakers want to know if a post-layoff Twitter can handle content moderation. But first… Today’s must-reads: • Alphabet shares fell over [concerns about Google’s chatbot]( • Salesforce’s former co-CEO [has a new AI startup]( • Apple hired its [first chief people officer]( Twitter’s angst Elon Musk has said he bought Twitter Inc. to ensure the sanctity of free speech on the site. This week, his company faced one of the challenges associated with operating a global social network in Germany, where certain kinds of speech are illegal. Internet platform companies are under strict limits by law to remove illegal hate speech and false information in Germany. Large ones like Twitter will face [even broader requirements]( across Europe when rules associated with the Digital Services Act go into effect in September. German lawmakers grilled Twitter’s head of European government affairs, Ronan Costello, about the company’s plans for content moderation during a committee hearing on Wednesday. He told the Bundestag that Twitter’s enforcement approach to the German law remains unchanged. Members of the digital committee expressed skepticism. Musk hastily terminated about half of Twitter’s staff in November and squeezed more out in the weeks that followed. The cuts [hit global content moderation teams]( directly. Essential aspects of running the business have been getting overlooked lately. Landlords claim Twitter has [missed rent payments](, and the [UK said the company failed to file]( its financial report on time, and the European Union singled it out as the only company that [failed to submit a complete report]( about disinformation efforts. For a time Wednesday, some users [weren’t even able to tweet](. Committee members tried over and over again to clarify how exactly Twitter would be able to meet more expansive moderation requirements with a greatly reduced staff. “There’s one thing that doesn’t add up,” said Armand Zorn, a Social Democrat, pointing to the platform’s recent job cuts and commitments to implement stringent content moderation rules. “I can’t believe half of the people can be laid off, and it makes no difference,” said Anke Domscheit-Berg of the Left party. Costello said Twitter had 150 people working on German content moderation from July to December, but he didn’t have an answer to questions about how many the company has now. Costello cited artificial intelligence and a crowdsourced fact-checking feature called Community Notes, a Musk favorite, as tools to aid its moderation efforts. Twitter will soon roll out Community Notes in Europe, he said. (The version currently available in the US [has serious limitations](.) Internet companies have wrestled with German content rules for years. The country’s Network Enforcement Act, which went into force in 2017, threatens fines of as much as €50 million to a company that fails to moderate and delete unlawful content. Lawmakers seem unconvinced that Twitter’s new leadership is taking the mandate seriously. The company was sued in Berlin in late January over alleged lapses. The complaint [cites six examples of antisemitic posts](, all published in recent months since the company was acquired by Musk. One contains a denial of the Holocaust, a tweet that was reported and its removal explicitly rejected, according to the complaint. In Germany, Holocaust denial is a criminal offense. The confrontation in the German parliament is a likely precursor to what Musk will face in Brussels. Offenses there can be even more costly. —[Aggi Cantrill](mailto:acantrill1@bloomberg.net) The big story Masayoshi Son is personally on the hook for about $5.1 billion on side deals he set up at SoftBank as [losses mount at the company’s Vision Fund](. Get fully charged Indian electric-scooter leader Ola said it’s on track to [roll out its first car]( in 2024. The UK dealt a blow to Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. One proposed remedy — divesting the Call of Duty business — would [call into question the very economics of the deal](. Ionos dropped in the web hosting stock’s debut, an inauspicious start for [Germany’s first initial public offering of the year](. Indonesia’s biggest tech company, the ride-hailing and delivery giant GoTo Group, is [shaking up its C-suite and executive board]( following a steep market selloff over the past year. Follow Us More from Bloomberg Coming soon: Exclusive reporting from Bloomberg’s 100 journalists across the Golden State, every Wednesday. [Sign up for Next California]( Live event: Join us in a US city near you for Bloomberg’s Intelligent Automation briefing about transformation in a time of uncertainty. Roadshow cities include: Atlanta, Feb. 28; Chicago, April 13; New York, May 4; San Francisco, June 20; London, Sept. 20; and Toronto, Oct. 19. [Register here](. Get Bloomberg Tech weeklies in your inbox: - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Soundbite]( for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business - [Screentime]( for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Tech Daily newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](