Berlin, 27 May 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The social media service Twitter has withdrawn from a voluntary European Union agreement to stamp out disinformation on the internet, according to the European Commission.

EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said Twitter was leaving the voluntary EU Code of Practice on Disinformation.

"But the obligations remain. You can run, but you can't hide," Breton said on Twitter late on Friday.

The code includes obligations to track political advertising, stop the monetization of disinformation, and to work with fact-checkers.

Breton said the fight against disinformation would be a legal obligation under the so-called EU Digital Services Act from August 25.

The new law means companies will have to moderate their platforms for harmful content like disinformation and introduce protocols to block the spread of dangerous material. Companies must also increase transparency regarding interactions with users and simplify user agreements.

"Our teams will be prepared for enforcement," Breton wrote.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called Twitter's actions irresponsible. "Disinformation, lies and propaganda fuel hatred and are poison for democracy," she tweeted.

She said it was good that there would soon be stricter EU rules. "Our law applies to all platforms, we will enforce it."

Twitter and other social media platforms, including TikTok, Meta and Google, signed the voluntary code in 2018.

In February, the commission published reports on how online platforms were implementing the code. It noted that Twitter gave no "specific information and no targeted data" related to transparency commitments.

Photo: Pixabay