EU extends disinformation warning to Zuckerberg after Hamas attack
European Commissioner Thierry Breton has warned some of Silicon Valley’s top social media players that Europe requires them to take prompt action to stop the spread of disinformation about the Israel-Hamas war.
Mr Breton told Meta Platforms chief executive Mark Zuckerberg that following the terrorist attacks, some platforms were responsible for a surge of content illegal in the European Union.
In a letter on Wednesday, he asked Meta to respond within 24 hours to ensure the company’s systems are effective. The letter was posted to Mr Breton’s new account on the social media site Bluesky.
Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. AP
The letter came a day after he sent one to Elon Musk, in which he told the owner of X, formerly Twitter, that his social network was spreading illegal content and called on him to take quick action.
The war is one of the first big tests of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which went into force earlier this year. Social media companies such as Meta and X are required to hire more content moderators and use risk mitigation methods to decrease the spread of harmful content.
Companies that fail to comply could face fines as high as 6 per cent of annual revenue or even be banned from the bloc if they repeatedly break the rules.
Mr Breton also asked Mr Zuckerberg to inform the commission about the measures the company had taken to decrease deepfakes, given a number of elections are coming up in Europe.
A spokesperson for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk hits back
Mr Breton’s letter to Mr Zuckerberg, later posted on X, was less aggressive than his note to Mr Musk, which triggered a flurry of comments from the world’s richest man.
Mr Musk fought back against the allegations, telling Mr Breton in public posts to discuss concerns on his social network instead of through letters or other channels.
Mr Musk and Mr Breton have developed a rapport over the past year, in part through their shared affection for semiconductors and satellites. Before Mr Musk bought Twitter, Mr Breton flew to Texas and got Mr Musk to film an awkward video saying he agreed with the EU’s ideas about content moderation.
Mr Breton visited X during his tour of Silicon Valley in June and greeted Linda Yaccarino, then less than three weeks on the job as chief executive officer. Mr Musk joined the meeting remotely for a “stress test” of the platform’s ability to comply with the DSA and assured Mr Breton at the time that he planned to comply with the laws.
In a sign that the relationship may be fraying, Mr Breton opened an account on Bluesky on Wednesday, writing “feels less crowded – yet more human – without all those bots”.
Bloomberg
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