EU Warns Musk, Zuckerberg of 'Disinformation' After Hamas Attack

Facts

• EU industry chief Thierry Breton has warned X's Elon Musk and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg about 'disinformation' regarding Hamas' attack on Israel, as social media platforms have allegedly seen a rise in false information — such as altered images and mislabeled videos — about the conflict.¹
• In a letter to Musk on Tuesday and to Zuckerberg on Wednesday, Breton gave them each 24 hours to address his concerns and take action to abide by EU laws. He didn't give any specific details on the alleged disinformation he was referring to.²
• In response, Meta said it had created a committee operated by experts to monitor the conflict and platform, while, according to Musk, X has also pursued solutions, such as eliminating Hamas-affiliated accounts. Musk further responded by requesting Breton 'list the violations' he's concerned about.³
• Under the Digital Services Act (DSA) — enacted in August — and the Terrorist Content Online Regulation, social media companies are required to prevent terrorist content and posts that are deemed to contain illegal hate speech from propagating on their platforms. Hamas is a designated terrorist group in the EU.¹
• Those who violate DSA guidelines could face a fine equal to 6% of their revenue or be banned from the EU.⁴

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²CNBC, ³Yahoo News and ⁴Newsweek.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The New York Times. The first casualty of war is truth. Propaganda takes over. Social media provides new possibilities for spreading false and misleading information, outdated and irrelevant videos, and deceptive photos. The Internet is flooded with images and videos from video games purported to be from Ukraine and the Middle East, adding further confusion and deception to an already chaotic moment. The EU has recognized this problem and recently introduced the Digital Services Act (DSA) to protect the public from malicious disinformation. The DSA is needed more than ever.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Los Angeles Times. The European Commission's Digital Services Act requires big tech companies to serve as privatized censors for governments. It comes as part of a larger effort by EU officials to prohibit Russian propaganda and make the rules against hate speech more stringent across the continent. In fact, the DSA is subjugating social media users in the US to the arbitrary moderation practices of foreign governments, which have much weaker free expression protections than those guaranteed by the First Amendment. Who gave the EU the right to decide what we can or cannot say in the US? The DSA will have to go.