Washington DC, United States: The European Union (EU) alerted the CEO of Meta – Mark Zuckerberg, over the spread of Israel-Hamas conflict-related disinformation on the social media platforms of Meta.
The Union has warned Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, to take down all the posts (videos and images) and comply with European law. This announcement was made after the social media was seen flooded with doctored images and mislabelled videos of the Israel-Hamas conflict, as per the reports by BCC News.
European Union warning X:
Besides this, the Union has also warned X, formerly known as Twitter, about the presence of similar content.
What the EU has to say:
The industry chief of the European Union – Thierry Breton, alerted Meta to show specific proof that will show that “timely, diligent and objective action” is taken against the accounts that are spreading disinformation.
Breton shared a warning letter in which it outlined that the firm has as many as 24 hours to explain the measures it will take to counter the spread of false information. In addition to this, the European Commission has asked all social media companies to take possible legal action against the content related to Palestinian militants.
It is to be noted that the EU has listed Hamas as a terrorist group. According to BCC News, a Commission spokesperson can be quoted stating, “Content circulating online that can be associated with Hamas qualifies as terrorist content, is illegal, and needs to be removed under both the Digital Services Act and Terrorist Content Online Regulation.”
Elon Musk’s reply to the EU:
Breton wrote a letter to the CEO of X – Elon Musk and asked that the social media platform is still showing “violent and terrorist content.” In the letter, which was shared on social media, he also cited that Musk has not taken any action despite warnings.
However, Musk stated that his team had taken action and removed all the newly created accounts having affiliation with Hamas. Further, he asked to share a list regarding the content that should be removed.
It is to be noted that Breton has not provided any specific details regarding the disinformation he was referring to in his letter. But he highlighted that “fake and manipulated images as well as facts” are widely spread on the social media platform.
The letter read, “I therefore invite you to urgently ensure that your systems are effective and report on the crisis measures taken to my team.”
Musk furthermore shared a response on X and stated that the firm’s policies are open and transparent. Additionally, he urged Berton to post the details on the social media platform “so that the public can see them.”
Some reports have outlined that the social media platform X has removed 67 accounts that were posting false, inflammatory content related to the Israel-Hamas war.
EU DSA:
These warnings have been sent under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) – which is designed to protect the users of the big tech platforms. The act became law last November and big firms were given time to comply with their systems, according to BBC.