“Terrorist content” on X
Elon Musk provokes warning from the EU Commission
October 11, 2023, 6:32 a.m
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Terrorist content relating to the Hamas attack on Israel is disseminated on the short message service The EU is urging Elon Musk to enforce applicable EU law on his platform as quickly as possible. He reacts negatively.
In a letter to billionaire Elon Musk, the EU Commission reminded the head of the short message service X (formerly Twitter) of his obligation to delete illegal content in connection with the attacks on Israel by the Islamist Hamas. “Following Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel, we have evidence that your platform is being used to spread illegal content and disinformation in the EU,” EU Commissioner Thierry Breton wrote in a letter published on X. For example, there is evidence of images that have been manipulated or actually come from video games.
He wanted to remind Musk of the new EU laws that apply to large online platforms – namely that it must be clear what content is allowed and what is not. “This is particularly important when it comes to violent and terrorist content that appears to be circulating on your platform,” Breton wrote. In addition, such content must be deleted as quickly as possible. He asked for a response within 24 hours. According to a new law, Facebook,
However, the answer that Musk sent is unlikely to satisfy the EU Commission: “Our policy is that everything is open source and transparent, an approach that, as far as I know, the EU supports,” the X-Boss wrote on his platform. “Please name the violations you allude to as X so the public can see them. Merci beaucoup.” If the EU complied with the request, it would itself make a massive contribution to the dissemination of the requested content. Musk did not publicly comment on the allegations.
Ataman demands farewell to X
Meanwhile, the independent Federal Commissioner for Anti-Discrimination, Ferda Ataman, called on the federal government to leave X. This was reported by the media company Table.Media, citing the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency. It goes on to say that Ataman massively criticized the platform operators in a letter to government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit and pointed out the inadequate enforcement of applicable law on the platform.
It is “increasingly questionable whether government and state authorities should conduct public relations work on a platform that has become a disinformation network and whose owner shares or spreads anti-Semitic, racist and right-wing populist content,” the letter continues.