BRUSSELS – The European Union (EU) is investigating Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) over the possible spread of terrorist and violent content, and hate speech, after Hamas’ attack on Israel.
The investigation, the first under the EU’s new tech rules, will also look at the way complaints are handled.
X said it had removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts from the platform.
TikTok and Meta have also been warned by the EU for not doing enough to tackle disinformation.
Social media firms have seen a surge in misinformation about the conflict between Israel and Hamas, including doctored images and mislabelled videos.
The EU’s industry chief, Thierry Breton, confirmed the bloc had sent X a “formal request for information” to determine whether the platform was complying with the Digital Services Act (DSA) – a law designed to protect users of big tech platforms which recently came into effect.
X chief executive Linda Yaccarino said earlier on Thursday the platform had removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts and taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content since Saturday’s attack, in response to a letter from Mr Breton on Tuesday.
Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the EU.
At least 150 hostages were taken into Gaza and 1,300 people were killed during Hamas’s deadly attacks in Israel at the weekend.
Meanwhile, more than 1,500 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory air strikes.
The UN’s World Food Programme has called the situation in Gaza “dire”, with food and water running out during an Israeli siege. Israel says the blockade will not end until its hostages are freed. (BBC)
