EU Gives Elon Musk 24 Hours to Address ‘Illegal Content and Disinformation’ on X/Twitter About Israel-Hamas War
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European Union commissioner Thierry Breton has issued a warning to Elon Musk over “illegal content and disinformation” about the Israel-Hamas war on X, formerly known as Twitter, giving him 24 hours to respond.
“Following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, we have indication that your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU,” Breton wrote in a letter to Musk, which he also posted on X. “Let me remind you that the Digital Services Act sets very precise obligations regarding content moderation.”
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Breton continued, “When you receive notices of illegal content in the EU, you must be timely, diligent and objective in taking action and removing the relevant content when warranted. We have, from qualified sources, reports about potentially illegal content circulating on your service despite flags from relevant authorities.”
On Monday, CNBC reported that X had failed to flag “dozens” of posts about the Hamas attacks on Israel that were spreading false information. This comes after X removed headlines from articles posted to the platform last week, making it easier for stories to be shared with fake titles.
“I urge you to ensure a prompt, accurate and complete response to this request within the next 24 hours,” Breton wrote. “We will include your answer in our assessment file on your compliance with the DSA. I remind you that following the opening of a potential investigation and a finding of non-compliance, penalties can be imposed.”
Musk then replied to Breton’s post, writing: “Our policy is that everything is open source and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports. Please list the violations you allude to on X, so that that the public can see them. Merci beaucoup.”
X did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
On Wednesday morning, Breton posted on X that he had joined Bluesky, rival social media platform created by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. “Even though the grass is not (always) greener on the other side, the sky is sometimes… bluer,” Breton wrote. “Let’s keep in touch!”
On Saturday, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli civilians, leading Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare war on the Palestinian military organization. According to the Associated Press, the death toll has risen to at least 1,600 on both sides.
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