Anamika Dey, editor
Brief news
- X Corp. and its CEO, Elon Musk, have been warned by the European Commission about the proliferation of illegal content on its social media platform, including incitements to violence and hate speech.
- The European commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, wrote a letter urging X Corp. to address the dissemination of harmful content and implement effective measures to prevent it.
- The EU has the authority to impose penalties and restrictions on X Corp. under the Digital Services Act, including increased monitoring, changes to recommender systems, and fines of up to 6% of the company’s global annual revenue.
Detailed news
X Corp. owner Elon Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino were issued a warning by the European Commission on Monday that the company may be subject to penalties and restrictions in Europe if it fails to address the proliferation of illegal content, such as incitements to violence and hate speech, on its social media platform.
Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market, wrote a letter on Monday that was posted on X. The letter was in response to recent events in the United Kingdom and related to the planned broadcast of a live conversation between a US presidential candidate and Elon Musk on platform, X. The conversation will also be accessible to users in the EU.
“We are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate, and racism in conjunction with major political or societal events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections,” wrote Breton.
“I therefore implore you to promptly verify the efficacy of your systems and to inform my team of the measures you have implemented,” he concluded.
Yaccarino characterizes the letter as “an unprecedented endeavor to extend a law that was intended to be applicable in Europe to political activities in the United States” after receiving it.
Yaccarino wrote on X, “It also encourages European citizens, implying that they are not capable of absorbing a conversation and deriving individual inferences.”
Spaces, the streaming platform of X, is scheduled to host Donald Trump on Monday evening. Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, will serve as the host.
The Spaces session, which Musk has described as an unscripted conversation, will be one of the few campaign events that Trump will participate in this week. In a newly competitive campaign against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, the Republican former president is still struggling to establish his footing.
In the midst of an investigation into potential legal violations at X, the commissioner reminded Musk of the due diligence obligations outlined in the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). This legislation mandates that social networks and streaming media platforms prevent the dissemination of hate speech and other harmful content on their platforms.
Breton cautioned Musk that the EU was prepared to “fully utilize our toolbox” to safeguard EU citizens from “serious harm.”
Breton stated that X Corp. is “designated as a Very Large Online Platform” and is legally obligated to comply with European laws, specifically the Digital Services Act, due to its reported 300 million global consumers, of which one-third are located in the EU.
The riots that have occurred in the United Kingdom in recent weeks were precipitated by disinformation that was disseminated on X and other social media platforms. This disinformation falsely identified the perpetrator of attacks on children attending a dance class in a town in England as an asylum seeker.
Musk has since made a succession of incendiary comments regarding the situation in the U.K. on X. He once proposed that the violence occurring on British streets could result in a civil war, stating, “Civil war is inevitable.”
British officials have condemned Musk’s statements. Last week, a spokesperson for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that there is “no justification” for such remarks.
Musk also shared an image of a fabricated headline that was designed to appear as though it had been sourced from the website of “The Telegraph” newspaper. The headline falsely asserted that the United Kingdom was constructing “detainment camps” on the Falkland Islands for protestors.
Ashlea Simon, the co-leader of the far-right Britain First party, had also posted the image, which he has since expunged.
Musk had already been the subject of criticism from U.K. officials prior to the dissemination of misinformation regarding the stabbings. Last week, the U.K.’s technology minister, Peter Kyle, stated in an interview published by the Times newspaper that Musk is “accountable to no one” and that interacting with platforms such as his can be akin to negotiating with foreign governments due to their size and scope.
Last year, the European Union’s executive arm, the commission, initiated an inquiry to determine whether X is in violation of the DSA. The investigation is currently underway.
Breton stated that the EU “cannot exclude potential spillovers in the EU” from unlawful content being disseminated on X, even when it is in the context of another jurisdiction’s affairs.
Examples of interim measures that the EU may enforce under the DSA include “increased monitoring of specific keywords or hashtags, changes to recommender systems, or orders to terminate or remedy alleged infringements.”
In addition, the commission has the authority to impose penalties of up to 6% of a company’s global annual revenue for violations of the DSA.
This commission has previously accused X of violating the regulations governing dark patterns, which are deceptive strategies employed by companies to encourage individuals to purchase or utilize specific products and services. Additionally, the commission has criticized X for its lack of transparency and data accessibility for researchers.
Source : CNBC News
