Elon Musk’s Social Media Platform X Defends Against EU’s Disinformation Claims on Israel-Gaza Conflict
Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of Musk’s X, has responded to the European Union’s allegations of not effectively addressing disinformation related to the Israel-Gaza violence. In a letter to EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton dated Wednesday, Yaccarino stated that X has taken extensive measures, including the removal or labeling of tens of thousands of pieces of content, and the deletion of numerous accounts associated with Gaza militant organization Hamas. This comes after a public exchange on social media between Musk and Breton, with Breton accusing X of allowing the circulation of “violent and terrorist content.” It’s worth noting that Musk acquired the platform, formerly known as Twitter, for $44 billion last year and made significant staff reductions, including content moderators, to cut costs, which raised concerns.
Breton, the EU’s self-styled “digital enforcer”, demanded on Tuesday that Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, whose Meta group includes Facebook and Instagram, provide details of how they were tackling “illegal content and disinformation”.
He warned that they needed to comply with the Digital Service Act (DSA), which gives the EU powers to fine platforms up to six percent of their global turnover if they fail to tackle illegal content.
– Video game footage –
Yaccarino’s letter, reposted by the CEO on her X account, said the firm had taken down posts that involved “violent speech, manipulated media, and graphic media”.
Her letter hailed the importance of the “community notes” system, which allows users to correct or add context to each other’s messages.
Yaccarino wrote that more than 700 notes were added to posts in the first four days after the violence erupted in Israel, and they were seen tens of millions of times.
The European Commission told AFP it had received the letter and was deciding on its next steps.
Musk’s leadership since the renewed Israel violence has drawn plenty of criticism, not just from the European Union.
Musk was forced to remove his post recommending two accounts on X as reliable sources for Israel after many users pointed out they both had a history of spreading misinformation.
AFP fact-checkers meanwhile found several posts on X, Facebook, and TikTok promoting a fake White House document allocating $8 billion in military assistance to Israel.
And several platforms have had users passing off material from other conflicts, or even from video games, as footage from Israel or Gaza.
The EU recently rated X as the worst of any major platform for illegal online content, and Musk has pulled out of a voluntary EU code of practice on battling disinformation.
