The European Union (EU) has given a warning to Elon Musk about disinformation on Twitter, which was previously known as “X.”
This disinformation is related to the Hamas attack on Israel and includes fake news and old images.
This warning comes after the EU introduced new laws to control what is posted on social media under the Digital Services Act.
If Elon Musk, who owns Twitter, does not take action, he could be fined up to 6% of Twitter’s revenue or even have Twitter shut down in the EU.
Thierry Breton, the EU commissioner responsible for this, has asked Musk to respond quickly and accurately to EU law enforcement agencies like Europol to deal with the disinformation.
Breton reminded Musk that he must have good measures in place to stop fake information that can harm public safety and discussions.
Musk had previously decided not to follow the voluntary rules set by the EU for social media companies. Other companies like Facebook and Google are following these rules and removing disinformation.
The EU’s new laws say that social media companies must act on complaints about illegal content within 24 hours. There is a way for users to complain and for the companies to respond.
There are worries that Twitter is not responding to complaints quickly enough, especially about disinformation or hate speech.
Breton has asked Musk to make sure his systems work effectively and to report back to the EU right away on the steps he takes to fix the situation.
If companies don’t follow the rules, they can’t use the “mitigating” factors as an excuse if the EU decides to take action against them.
Breton warned Musk that his response will be looked at to see if he’s following the Digital Services Act rules. If not, penalties could be imposed.
Recently, there were concerns about fake posts on Twitter and Musk recommending accounts with false claims or antisemitic comments related to war coverage.
Musk suggested following specific Twitter accounts to get real-time war updates, which caught people’s attention.
