Source: AFP
The EU announced “formal infringement proceedings” against Elon Musk’s Platform X on Monday under a law to crack down on illegal online content after it found disinformation about the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.
The lawsuit against the company formerly known as Twitter is the first against a major online platform since Brussels implemented the Digital Services Act (DSA), a sweeping piece of European Union legislation that makes online companies more liable for content control.
“Today’s launch of formal proceedings against X makes it clear that, with the DSA, the era of large online platforms behaving as if they are ‘too big to care’ is over,” said the bloc’s digital enforcement commissioner, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton. .
“We will now launch an in-depth investigation into X’s compliance with the DSA’s obligations on tackling the spread and promotion of illegal content and disinformation in the EU, transparency of platforms and user interface design.”
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/69d207d020ecbe9b.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/69d207d020ecbe9b.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
Countries risk paying ‘polluters’ billions to tackle climate: UN expert
The European Commission said a preliminary intelligence-gathering investigation launched against X in October, which included an examination of “the dissemination of illegal content in the context of Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel,” led to Monday’s investigation.
Based on this information, “the Commission has decided to initiate formal infringement proceedings against X under the Digital Services Act,” it said.
The official investigation will look at four areas: the dissemination of illegal content; the effectiveness of X’s efforts to combat disinformation; suspected restrictions on researcher access to its data; and suspected deceptive practices — known as “dark patterns” — related to its Blue Tick subscription product.
In the event of proven violations, the DSA imposes penalties that can include fines of up to six percent of an online company’s global revenue.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/2f7520dc66fa6d64.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/2f7520dc66fa6d64.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
Leaks show McKinsey pushed fossil fuel agenda at Africa climate summit
Misinformation
For serious and repeated violations, the EU can ban a platform operating in the 27-nation bloc.
The commission said that, as part of the official investigation against X, it will now continue to collect evidence, for example by sending additional requests for information, conducting interviews or inspections.
She noted that the procedure gave her powers to order X to take interim or remedial measures, pending the conclusion of the investigation.
There is no deadline for completing the process.
Source: AFP
Weeks after launching the initial intelligence-gathering exercise against X, the commission also launched preliminary investigations in the same vein against TikTok, YouTube and Facebook owner Meta.
These investigations also examined how the platforms handled disinformation and illegal content related to the Hamas attack.
The October 7 attack by Hamas killed about 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and took about 240 people hostage, according to updated Israeli figures.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/12d70b305fec1f73.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/12d70b305fec1f73.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
Moderna CEO says melanoma vaccine could be available by 2025
Israel retaliated with heavy shelling of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
More than 18,800 Palestinians — about 70 percent of them women, young children and teenagers — have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israeli bombardment since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas government’s health ministry, and much of the besieged area has been reduced to rubble.
Extremists and conspiracy theorists
Brussels in September raised concerns about X’s anti-disinformation capabilities after it scored poorly in that regard in a multi-platform pilot study.
Since buying Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, Musk has disbanded its content moderation staff and reinstated the accounts of banned extremists and conspiracy theorists.
It has gotten rid of the platform’s system of verifying high-profile users, replacing it with a blue tick subscription offer open to anyone willing to pay.
Musk renamed Company X, with ambitions to turn it into a multi-service platform to include identity verification and payment transactions in the mold of China’s WeChat.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/e5af9b196986931c.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/e5af9b196986931c.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
Meta launches Twitter rival Threads in the EU
Last month, he lashed out at advertisers who have left his platform and declared that a tweet espousing an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory was the “absolute truth”.
According to information provided to AFP by market data analytics firm SensorTower, around half of the top 100 US advertisers the company had in October 2022 have already stopped spending on X altogether.
Musk’s company is now worth less than half of what he paid for it — about $19 billion, according to internal documents sent to staff and reported by tech publication The Verge.
Source: AFP