(Brussels) The European Commission announced Thursday the opening of an investigation targeting the social network Hamas against Israel.
The Brussels executive explained in a press release that it had sent a formal request for information to the platform of billionaire Elon Musk. This is the first procedure launched under the new European legislation on digital services (DSA), two days after a first warning letter from Commissioner Thierry Breton.
The latter thus continues the turn of the screw started at the beginning of the week and which saw him successively warn X, Meta and again on Thursday TikTok, in letters addressed to their leaders.
The request for information sent to X constitutes the first step in a procedure which can lead to heavy financial sanctions in the event of proven and prolonged infringements of the regulations. In extreme cases, fines can reach 6% of the group’s global turnover.
The request for information “follows indications received concerning the presumed dissemination of illicit content,” explained the Commission, which has inherited new power of control and sanction.
This request takes the form of a document of around forty pages with specific questions.
A first series concerns clarifications to be made on the publication of illegal content and false information, in the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Twitter will have until October 18 to respond.
The deadline is extended to October 31 for other less urgent requests.
“Protect democracies”
It is about “protecting our citizens and our democracies by offering a secure environment to users and reliable sources of information, including in times of crisis,” Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Digital, told AFP. the origin of the new legislation.
The launch of the procedure comes five days after the Hamas attacks against Israel which left at least 1,200 dead, the vast majority civilians, while some 150 people were taken hostage.
The Israeli response in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 1,350 people, including many civilians.
The conflict arouses immense emotion across the world, conducive to attempts to manipulate opinion. Humiliating videos of hostages, decapitated bodies, filmed assassinations… Social networks have been flooded with violent images but also with attempts at disinformation, a challenge for all platforms.
Brussels also warned the American group Meta (Facebook, Instagram) on Wednesday, then the Chinese social network TikTok on Thursday.
“Your platform is used intensively by children and adolescents. You have a special obligation to protect them from violent content […] which appear to be circulating widely on your platform without any particular security system,” wrote Thierry Breton in a letter to the boss of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, published on the social networks Bluesky and X.
Stricter rules have been imposed on 19 very large internet players, including X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, since the end of August.
In his warning to Meta, Mr. Breton also mentioned disinformation on Wednesday in the context of elections in Europe, before legislative elections in Poland on Sunday and a European election next June.
Concerning the Israel-Hamas conflict, a Meta spokesperson explained Wednesday that the group “quickly established a special operations center staffed by experts, including people fluent in Hebrew and Arabic.”
Network
“There is no place on to take care of the situation.”
However, Brussels was already concerned at the end of September about the rate of misinformation on X, pointing out its poor results during tests carried out on several platforms.
After buying Twitter last year, Elon Musk carried out a massive wave of layoffs that decimated the moderation teams. He regularly reaffirms his vision of freedom of expression, refusing any “censorship”, even if he assures that he respects the laws of each country.