The European Union is currently probing the operations of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter which was acquired by Elon Musk. The investigation centers on allegations of the platform’s possible spread of terrorist content, violent material, and hate speech, stemming from the recent attack by Hamas on Israel.
The EU’s new tech regulations serve as the guideline for this first-time investigation, and it’s also examining how customer complaints are being processed by the platform. In the wake of these issues, X announced that it had purged hundreds of accounts linked to Hamas.
Other social media giants TikTok and Meta have similarly received alerts from the EU for their failures in effectually combating disinformation. In the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, these companies experienced a significant influx of misinformation, including altered images and inaccurately labelled videos.
Thierry Breton, the EU’s industrial boss, verified on Thursday that X was served with an official information request. The purpose of this is to ascertain if the platform complies with the Digital Services Act (DSA), a law recently implemented to safeguard users of major technology platforms.
In response to the information request, X’s Chief Executive, Linda Yaccarino, noted that the platform has abolished additional Hamas-affiliated accounts, and has taken measures to either remove or label tens of thousands of content pieces since the Hamas attack on Saturday. This was the result of a correspondence from Mr. Breton earlier the week.
Hamas, a Palestinian extremist group, is recognized as a proscribed terrorist organization by the EU. The recent assault by Hamas on Israel resulted in at least 150 hostages taken into Gaza and an estimated 1,300 fatalities. Counter air strikes by Israel have led to over 1,500 fatalities in Gaza.
The UN’s World Food Programme has described the current situation in Gaza as severe due to the dwindling supplies of food and water during the Israeli siege. Nevertheless, Israel maintains that the blockade will persist until the hostages have been liberated.
In his communication with Mr. Musk, Mr. Breton indicated that violent and terrorist content have remained on the X platform, notwithstanding warnings. Though he did not provide explicit examples of the disinformation to which he was referring, he stated that pseudo and manipulated images and facts were widely circulated on X.
In defense, Mr. Musk stated on the X platform: “Our policy is that everything is open and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports. Please list the violations you allude to on X, so that the public can see them.”
The DSA was passed into law last year in November, and companies have been given ample time to ensure their systems are compliant. The platforms with 45 million or more EU users, including X, are expected to comply with the toughest rules under the DSA, which became effective in August this year.
Under these stringent rules, larger companies are expected to evaluate potential risks, report their assessments, and develop remedies. Companies that fail to comply can be heavily penalized, with fines reaching 6% of global turnover. The worst-case scenario could lead to a suspension of their services.
X has been given until October 18 to clarify how it activates and implements its crisis response mechanism, and has until the end of October to address remaining issues.
Shortly after acquiring the company in 2022, Mr. Musk disbanded Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council. Established in 2016, this volunteer council, comprising about 100 independent groups, provided advice on matters such as self-harm, child abuse, and hate speech.
In a related development, a spokesperson for Meta informed BBC that the company had set up a special operations center to continuously monitor the situation to keep their platforms safe.
