(Reuters)—The European Union has threatened Elon Musk's Twitter with a ban unless the billionaire abides by its strict rules on content moderation, setting up a regulatory battle over the future of the social media platform, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
EU industry chief Thierry Breton made the threat during a video meeting with Musk on Wednesday, the FT reported, citing people with knowledge of the conversation.
Breton told Musk he must adhere to a checklist of rules, including ditching an "arbitrary" approach to reinstating banned users and agreeing to an "extensive independent audit" of the platform by next year, according to the report.
Twitter and the EU did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Breton had previously urged Musk to comply with landmark EU rules against online hate speech and disinformation. The European Commission's justice chief Didier Reynders had also voiced similar comments.
(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)