According to news on October 11, European regulators have issued a stern warning to Elon Musk, the owner of social media platform X, saying that illegal content and false information were spread on X (formerly known as Twitter) during the Israel-Hamas conflict. Failure to comply with European rules on illegal content could result in fines equal to 6% of the company's annual revenue.
EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a letter to Musk on Tuesday that his office had found "indications" that some groups were spreading misinformation, "violent and terrorist" content on X, and urged the billionaire to respond within 24 hours.
Musk responded to Thierry Breton by saying that the policy of the X platform is that all content is open source and transparent.
The letter follows what many researchers, news organizations and other organizations have identified as a surge in misleading, false and questionable content on X, confusing people about the current conflict.
Brayton shared the letter via an
In the letter, Brayton reminded Musk that the DSA "has very clear rules regarding content moderation" and that X needs to "be clear and transparent about the terms of your policy, including what content is allowed, and relentlessly enforce your policy."
The commissioner said recent "changes in public interest policy have confused many European users". Brayton appeared to be referring to a change X made to its public interest policy over the weekend that affected whether the company decided to make certain posts visible to everyone if they violated the policy.
"Public media and civil society organizations have widely reported on false and doctored images and facts circulating on your EU platforms, such as the repurposing of old images unrelated to armed conflicts, or military footage actually derived from video games. This is clearly false or misleading information," the letter reads.
Brayton said he wanted Musk to ensure X's "systems are effective" and "report back to my team on the crisis response measures taken." He added that he expected X to "keep in contact with the relevant law enforcement agencies and Europol and ensure that you respond promptly to their requests".
"I remind you (Musk) that following a potential investigation and discovery of violations, you may be subject to penalties," Breton wrote.