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EU investigates X’s handling of Israel-Gaza content
https://www.whatjobs.com/news/twitter-news/eu-investigates-xs-handling-of-israel-gaza-content
By Nithya Bose in Twitter/X News, posted October 14, 2023
The European Commission is looking into X, formerly Twitter, regarding its handling of illegal content associated with the Israel-Gaza conflict.
This is a major step under the EU's Digital Services Act, a landmark social media law to combat disinformation and harmful online content.
European Commissioner Thierry Breton announced the investigation.
He underscored the dissemination of hate speech, violent materials, and terrorist content on the X platform.
Read more: EU Warns Elon Musk Of “Disinformation” On X Over Hamas-Israel War
The inquiry focuses on determining whether X's policies and the management of complaints concerning illicit content align with the law.
The company is facing a critical deadline to provide an accurate response or face potential fines if it fails to comply.
This investigation follows previous concerns by Commissioner Breton.
He questioned whether the platform was being used to spread "illegal content and disinformation" concerning the Hamas attacks on Israel.
Read More: EU Warns Meta Over Disinformation Amid Hamas-Israel Conflict
The law, enacted for big tech platforms in August, can impact Elon Musk's approach to moderating misinformation and harmful content on X.
The union has earned a reputation as a robust regulator of Silicon Valley.
X's handling of terrorist-related content and other posts linked to the Israel-Gaza conflict presents an early test of the law's enforcement.
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Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition of X last year has led to notable changes on the platform.
He reinstated thousands of previously banned accounts.
Moreover the platform relaxed some content rules to fulfill Musk's promise of creating a free-speech haven on the platform.
However, these changes have raised concerns among advertisers, who worry about the increased presence of hateful content on the platform.
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In response to Breton, X's CEO, Linda Yaccarino, highlighted removing and labeling tens of thousands of posts.
She said the platform also applied crowdsourced fact-checks known as Community Notes.
She mentioned establishing a leadership group to manage the response to the conflict and shared insights into the company's policies and enforcement practices.
Yaccarino said X had identified and removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts.
She said the platform diligently responded to over 80 takedown requests in the EU.
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