The European Union (EU) sent a letter to Elon Musk Tuesday warning that his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, was spreading illegal content and disinformation after the Hamas attacks on Israel.
Thierry Breton, the EU’s Commissioner for Internal Market, sent Musk a letter Tuesday, urging the CEO to update his content enforcement policies and to manage content that violates the bloc’s tech laws a timely manner.
“Following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, we have indications that your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU,” Breton wrote in a letter to Musk and posted publicly on X. “Let me remind you that the Digital Services Act sets very precise obligations regarding content moderation.”
The Digital Services Act (DSA) is part of tech-focused regulations crafted last year. It’s designed to keep users safe and stop the spread of harmful content.
Misinformation is spreading across X, with users sharing misleading or false information about the attacks, including the U.S. sending a multi-billion dollar aid package to Israel.
The spread of misinformation during a conflict isn’t new, but under Musk’s leadership, concerns about accessing reliable information are increasing, The Hill reported.
X said Monday it is “laser focused and dedicated to protecting the conversation on X and enforcing our rule as we continue to assess the situation on the platform.”
Breton said that when Musk receives notices that illegal content is on his platform, the EU expects him to be “timely, diligent and objective in taking action and removing the relevant content when warranted.”
Despite users flagging the incorrect information about the attacks, some posts remain online, Breton said in his letter, also pointing to repurposed images of unrelated conflicts that purport to show horrors from the Hamas-Israel conflict.
Breton also said the platform needs better mitigation measures and is calling upon the billionaire CEO to respond within 24 hours. He also reminded Musk of the potential for non-compliance penalties.
Community Notes, a feature on X that aims to correct misinformation, said users have written 500 unique notes relating to the attacks and unfolding events, among others.
The platform said they are actively working on improving the community notes on matching video and image posts. It said in many cases it will send notifications to people who have liked, shared or replied to a post that later received a flag or note that it was inaccurate.
Stop warning the cunt
Fine first, talk later.
Just fine him $1 billion every time he does shit like this. If he doesn’t pay, sue his ass in a $5 billion lawsuit. We have ways of making him talk.
Some say jail, some say guillotine.
He doesn’t deserve the guillotine. Edit: I mean it’s too good for him. Just get him a good old axe, with an UK l’s executioner…
Somebody let me know when the Artist Formerly Known as Twitter faces any consequences.
There’s probably a reason why Musk succeeded in getting Saudi funding for Twitter despite it being a financial dumpster fire even before the acquisition: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/28/saudis-kingdom-holding-company-to-maintain-twitter-stake
Even the Taliban (who officially celebrated the recent terror attack against Israel on Twitter) are happy with the platform: https://www.euronews.com/2023/07/11/twitters-approach-to-free-speech-backed-by-taliban-official
Illegal content? If its not child porn, I don’t see why it should be illegal.
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So you agree “free speech” isn’t absolute, but you get to decide where the line is?
Who was talking about free speech absolutism?
I did, like a month ago. I forget the details, but I still get bozos like him talking about limiting speech and acting like Im crazy for thinking governments are overreaching.
I try not to reply.
Agreed. Show me the American (America based company) law. No, not just an ultra-leftist opinion but the actual statute.
If you’re operating in the EU, you have to abide by EU laws when dealing with EU clients. No ifs, ands or buts. Doesn’t matter if your company is British, American or based on a volcano island with sharks.
That’s only really feasible for as long as the corporation has a physical presence in the EU and/or the corporation’s home government is willing to enforce the laws of a foreign government upon their own corporations/citizens.
I know Twitter used to have offices In the EU, but I don’t know if that’s still the case currently. If it’s not then without the cooperation of the US government there’s not much the EU can do if Musk decides to tell them to pound sand.
I’m not saying I think he’s in the right, I just don’t see how it’s possible for any nation to enforce laws outside of their own borders without the co-operation of other governments, and I don’t see how the US government could possibly co-operate to enforce foreign laws that would likely violate the US constitution.
Edit to add: Sure they could always try to enforce dns blocking or some shit on Twitter via mandates on local ISPs, but those are things that can be circumvented without too much difficulty.
That is done via a web of international treaties. So if you break GDPR despite having all your stuff in America, they can still come after you.
Welcome to the internet!. It is far from a safe place. That won’t change anytime soon.
Sure, common & logical belief, but not how major corporations are allowed to operate under various forms of regulatory bodies across the globe. You may have an opinion, but your opinion holds 0 value. Welcome to the actual world of global commerce. Glad to meet you!
The problem, as always, is who decides who is the arbiter of truth or offense?
This has literally been decided by democracies around the world, including most of those who rank higher on the freedom scale than the United States. This is a question we will continue to refine, but it’s dishonest as well as disingenuous to play “who watches the watchmen” with this one.
Sound argument, & ultimately I agree, but doing nothing isn’t, & will never be, the answer. However, in this case, there is a very clear arbiter. It’s the EU. That’s just how it is, right now, for operating a company in their region.
I have a much simpler solution. Better education in critical thinking.
That has nothing to do w/ the topic of operating a business in the EU. Essentially, you’re suggesting that people should be educated to avoid devious behavior rather than holding companies accountable to existing laws. Sure, education could make existing laws unnecessary, but that’s not really the question. You either operate a business lawfully or you don’t. Society is irrelevant in that conversation.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The European Union (EU) sent a letter to Elon Musk Tuesday warning that his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, was spreading illegal content and disinformation after the Hamas attacks on Israel.
“Following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, we have indications that your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU,” Breton wrote in a letter to Musk and posted publicly on X.
Misinformation is spreading across X, with users sharing misleading or false information about the attacks, including the U.S. sending a multi-billion dollar aid package to Israel.
The spread of misinformation during a conflict isn’t new, but under Musk’s leadership, concerns about accessing reliable information are increasing, The Hill reported.
X said Monday it is “laser focused and dedicated to protecting the conversation on X and enforcing our rule as we continue to assess the situation on the platform.”
It said in many cases it will send notifications to people who have liked, shared or replied to a post that later received a flag or note that it was inaccurate.
The original article contains 406 words, the summary contains 183 words. Saved 55%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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