The European Commission suspends its advertising campaigns on the social network

Brussels is playing the caution card. The European Commission has asked its services to suspend any advertising campaign on X (formerly Twitter) due to the “alarming increase in disinformation and hate speech”, announced Friday, November 17, a spokesperson for the institution. He clarified that this does not call into question the presence of Commission services on the platform.

This decision comes after the opening in October of an investigation targeting Elon Musk’s social network for the alleged distribution of “fake news”, “violent and terrorist content” And “hate speech”, in the context of the war between Israel and Hamas. The procedure, initiated by Brussels, is part of the application of the new legislation on digital services, imposing reinforced obligations on platforms.

European Commission accused of violating its own rules

A month earlier, in September, a controversy arose after the broadcast of a campaign on X by the services of the European Commissioner for Home Affairs to promote draft legislation. Accused of having used microtargeting techniques based on the political and religious opinions of the targeted people, she was suspected of having violated European rules on personal data.

An Austrian association campaigning for the protection of privacy, Noyb, therefore filed a complaint on Thursday against the European Commission with the European Data Protection Supervisor, on behalf of a Dutch Internet user who was the recipient of one of the messages from the data protection services. ‘European Union. The NGO is calling for a thorough investigation and the imposition of a fine.