EU opens investigation into X’s handling of disinformation over Hamas attack on Israel

X earlier announced it had removed accounts associated with Hamas from its platform

The EU has launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s X – formerly known as Twitter — over its alleged spreading of disinformation, “in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech” over the recent Hamas attack on Israel.

It will be the first inquiry conducted in relation to the European Union’s recently implemented tech regulations and will also scrutinise the procedures at X for managing complaints.

Earlier, X announced that it removed numerous accounts associated with Hamas from its platform.

In a statement on Thursday, the EU said that “the European Commission services sent to X a formal request for information under the Digital Services Act (DSA)”.

“This request follows indications received by the Commission services of the alleged spreading of illegal content and disinformation, in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech. The request addresses compliance with other provisions of the DSA as well.”

The EU’s industry chief Thierry Breton clashed online with Mr Musk after telling him in a letter that “violent and terrorist content” had not been taken down from X despite warnings.

Mr Breton refrained from giving more specific details about the disinformation mentioned in the letter. However, he noted that instances of “fake and manipulated images and facts” were widely documented on the social media platform.

Mr Musk hit back on X saying: “Our policy is that everything is open and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports. Please list the violations you allude to on X, so that the public can see them.”

TikTok and Meta have also received warnings from the European Union for their alleged failures in addressing disinformation on their social media platforms.

The EU is requesting that X provide information related to its investigation by 18 October. Mr Breton had initially written that Mr Musk should respond within 24 hours.

Mr Breton also reminded Mr Musk that the DSA “sets very precise obligations regarding content moderation,” and that X needs “to be very transparent and clear on what content is permitted under your terms and consistently and diligently enforce your own policies”.

He added that he expects X “to be in contact with the relevant law enforcement authorities and Europol, and ensure that you respond promptly to their requests”.

“I remind you that following the opening of a potential investigation and a finding of non-compliance, penalties can be imposed,” Mr Breton wrote.

Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, announced on Thursday that the platform had taken action to remove hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts and had also initiated steps to either remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content since the attack that occurred on Saturday.