EU accusations of playing host to Israel-Hamas disinformation are defended by X
Taking Action in the Open: The Response to Musk on a Digital Services Act Can Come into the Study of Social Media Misuse in the EU
In his response to Breton, Musk pushed for the Commissioner to list any specific violations that were found on the platform publicly. “We take our actions in the open,” Musk wrote. There are no back room deals.
The pair then engaged in a brief but public exchange. Breton gave Musk a 24-hour deadline to respond; Musk told Breton to provide more details publicly. The commissioner promised his people he would make sure they get in touch. “No backroom deals,” the billionaire shot back. Breton’s next post on X invited his followers to join him on Bluesky, a competing social media platform.
Breton has become the face of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a sweeping rule book for the internet giants designed to protect human rights and limit the spread of illegal content online. The 68-year-old has embraced meetings with Big Tech executives as part of that role. In the past year, he’s been pictured with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, explaining how their companies should follow the new rules. Before Musk officially bought X, then Twitter, the Frenchman flew to Texas to meet him, also extracting a video pledge from Musk that the platform would comply with the regulation.
A well-informed source in the EU says that Breton wants to stay in the press cycle for a long time in the run up to the elections.
Against War in Israel: Penfrat’s Threat to the EU Commission and a Study of Community Notes on the X-Network
If the threat of enforcement powers were given to a political commission, it would make platforms do things they aren’t obliged to do, according to Jan Penfrat, senior policy adviser at the digital rights group. “We confirm that we are 100 percent in line with enforcement procedures of the DSA,” says an EU official, declining to be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
There have been reports of misinformation spreading about the war in Israel. The Guardian has collected examples of this type of content, some with millions of views, that includes images being shared out of context. Researchers claim to have discovered a network of accounts that were posting false and inflammatory content about the war.
Yaccarino’s letter also emphasizes how X has been using Community Notes in an attempt to combat misinformation on its platform, noting that over 700 unique notes are being shown on the platform relating to the attacks. But a report from NBC News has shed light on the strain the volunteer-powered system is under, with some community notes taking hours or even days to be approved, and other posts failing to be labeled at all.
