The EU warns Musk that the social network X is used to spread misinformation after the Hamas attacks and demands measures

The Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Thierry Breton, warned this Tuesday that after the Hamas attacks against Israel, the social network X (formerly Twitter) is being used to spread disinformation and illegal content. In an “urgent” letter, Breton reminded Elon Musk, CEO of respond within 24 hours “accurately and completely.” Brussels warns Musk that he may face sanctions for breaking EU law.

“We have reports from qualified sources that warn of potentially illegal content circulating on your service, despite urgent warnings from the relevant authorities,” says the letter that the Internal Market Commissioner has disseminated on the X network itself.

Breton speaks of reused old images from unrelated armed conflicts, military images that actually originated in video games, and “false and manipulated facts” that have been detected.

Musk has responded that the social network is based on a “transparent” code and has urged Breton to list the violations “so that the public can see them,” he also wrote in X.

It is the umpteenth controversy between the community institutions and Musk over the changes in X, which abandoned the voluntary code against disinformation to comply with European laws to which other companies, such as Facebook or Google, have joined. New community rules dictate that social media companies must respond to complaints about illegal content within 24 hours and can dispute user complaints, but there is an appeals process for consumers.

In recent days, Musk also recommended following information about Hamas attacks and Israel’s war against the Islamist militia through accounts that have been shown to spread false content.

“You must be very transparent and clear about what content is allowed under your terms and consistently and diligently enforce your own policies,” says the letter from Breton, one of the harshest voices against Musk and Twitter’s constant violations. “This is particularly relevant when it comes to violent and terrorist content that appears to be circulating on their platform. “Its latest changes in public interest policies that occurred overnight left many European users unsafe,” adds the commissioner, who urges the CEO of X to take action and remove “relevant” content where justified. and to contact authorities such as Europol.

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