by Supantha Mukherjee
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Meta said on Friday it would remove messages praising and supporting Hamas from its platforms, as the European Union (EU) criticizes social networks for not doing enough to fight against misinformation.
Since the Islamist group Hamas’ attack on Israel on Saturday, misleading claims and doctored images have spread on Facebook and other networks.
In the three days following the attack, Meta said it removed or marked as disruptive more than 795,000 pieces of content in Hebrew or Arabic.
Meta is also temporarily expanding its policy on inciting violence by removing content that clearly identifies hostages taken by Hamas, even if it is to condemn their situation or raise awareness.
Following the attack, Hamas took dozens of Israeli and foreign nationals hostage and took them to the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
The company said it was aware of the risk of disseminating images and said it would remove any content that violates victims’ privacy.
Although Hamas has been banned from its platforms, Meta nevertheless allows the sharing of social and political discourse, such as reporting, human rights issues or academic, neutral and critical discussions.
The European Commission has been pressuring social media platforms to remove illegal and harmful content to comply with its Digital Services Act, violation of which can result in hefty fines.
Meta’s response contrasts with that of X, formerly Twitter, which asked the Commission to provide more information on the violations committed on its site. The Commission therefore opened an investigation.
(Reporting Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; French version Mariana Abreu)
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