Elon Musk’s X spreads illegal ‘Disinformation’ after Hamas attack, EU warns

Commissioner for the Internal Market of the European Union, Thierry Breton refused to disclose the details of the disinformation he meant in his letter to Musk and shared that the occasions of ‘fake and manipulated images and facts’ that were reported on social media. He warned billionaire Elon Musk about the ongoing fraud that has been occurring on his platform X.

Breton stated in his letter, ‘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,’ the letter continued saying, ‘Given the urgency, I also expect you to be in contact with the relevant law enforcement authorities and Europol, and ensure that you respond promptly to their requests,’ alongside added, ‘I urge you to ensure a prompt, accurate and complete response to this request within the next 24 hours,’

He further shared his letter which says, ‘I therefore invite you to urgently ensure that your systems are effective, and report on the crisis measures taken to my team,’

Breton tried to remind Musk that the law of the EU sets rigid rules and regulations, ‘especially when it comes to violent and terrorist content that appears to circulate on your platform’. He also asked that X (formerly Twitter) react to his complaint within a day and also came in touch with the EU police coordinating agency, Europol. Further stated, ‘We will include your answer in our assessment file on your compliance with the DSA’, referring to the new services of the EU Digital Services Act.

It continued saying, ‘I remind you that following the opening of a potential investigation and a finding of non-compliance, penalties can be imposed,’

Mr. Musk responded to one X user who shared the letter, asked Breton to ‘please list the violations you allude to on X so that the public can see them,’ wrote, ‘Our policy is that everything is open source and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports,’

However, his letter comes after Hamas, the Palestinian militant group started attacking Israel killing hundreds of countrymen, women, and children and leaving the country destroyed. In response to the attack, forces of Israel have also launched missiles on Gaza which have managed to destroy over nine hundred lives reportedly.

Mr. Musk responded on X, saying, ‘Our policy is that everything is open and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports.’ further said, ‘Please list the violations you allude to on X, so that the public can see them.’

However, Brussels has earlier complained that among the numerous platforms on the internet that fall under the DSA remit, Twitter seems to spread the maximum proportion of misleading information. Back in August when the new law was introduced, Musk reacted to a post which was created by Breton by saying that he was putting his full effort into complying but there have been more issues since then.

Meanwhile, the list of confirmed deaths in the latest war has now crossed 3,000 while the exaggerated or fraud reports have also seemed to be here and there, people fear that these steps have now increased the risk of wrong information, provoking violence and hatred.