European Commission Launches Investigation Into X Regarding Content Regarding Israel-Hamas Conflict: Report
The European Commission has officially opened an investigation into X, owned by Elon Musk, for spreading illegal content and disinformation, particularly terrorist and violent content and hate speech as a result of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The commission announced late Thursday that it has sent X a formal request for information under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
After being designated as a “Very Large Online Platform”, X must comply with all regulations introduced by the DSA in late August, including assessing and mitigating the risks associated with the dissemination of illegal content, disinformation and gender-based information. violence and all negative effects on the exercise of fundamental rights, children’s rights, public safety and mental well-being.
“In this particular case, Commission services are investigating X’s compliance with the DSA, including its policies and practices regarding illegal content reporting, complaint handling, risk assessment and measures to mitigate identified risks,” the Commission said.
X must submit the requested information to the Commission’s departments by October 18 in matters concerning the activation and operation of the platform’s crisis management protocol, and by October 31 in other matters.
“The Commission will assess the next steps based on the assessment of X’s response. This may involve the formal initiation of proceedings under Article 66 of the DSA,” the Commission said.
“If X does not respond, the Commission may decide to request information in its decision. In this case, failure to respond by the deadline may result in periodic sanctions,” it added.
Earlier this week, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton warned Musk that his X platform was “being used to spread illegal content and disinformation in the EU” following the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
In a letter to Musk, Breton said that following “Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel” they have indications that “your platform is being used to spread illegal content and disinformation in the EU”.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino said Thursday that the microblogging platform has removed hundreds of “Hamas-linked accounts” and “took steps to remove or flag tens of thousands of content” after the attack on Israel.
