Reuters: Competitors

X, formerly Twitter, has significantly fewer moderators than other platforms, such as YouTube and TikTok, Reuters writes, citing an unnamed member of the European Commission.

X has a total 2510 moderators in the European Union. About 2,294 of these have English as the primary language. Compared to the former Twitter, the other companies that submitted a report have significantly more moderators, writes Reuters. For example, according to the EC member who spoke to the news agency, YouTube has 16,974 and Google Play 7,319 moderators. TikTok is said to employ 6,125 moderators.

The information is said to come from reports from X and other major tech platforms that were submitted to the EC in September. The Commission wants to gain insight into the number of moderators on the platforms in order to find out whether the companies comply with the Digital Services Act. This requires, among other things, that online platforms take sufficient action against harmful and illegal content. In April, 19 platforms with more than 45 million daily active users were designated to be the first to comply with the DSA, which went into effect in August.

European Commission members hope X will feel pressure to increase the number of moderators to catch up with its rivals, the official says. “There is an important aspect of the DSA and that is peer pressure,” says the EC member. From February 17, all companies must comply with the DSA, not just the 19 services mentioned in April.

Update: Title and intro adjusted. The number of X moderators has also been adjusted. Reuters had only counted the 2,294 moderators whose primary language was English. The total number of X-moderators in Europe is 2510 moderators.