On Thursday, the EU demanded that Meta and TikTok report on their efforts to combat illegal content and disinformation during the war between Israel and Hamas, according to Euronews.
The European Commission has issued formal demands for social media companies to report on their compliance with sweeping new rules aimed at cleaning up internet platforms.
The Commission asked the management of TikTok and Meta to explain what specific measures they had taken to reduce the risk of spreading and amplifying terrorist and violent content, hate speech and misinformation.
In the EU, new rules have been in force since August that give major technology companies additional obligations to stop the distribution of a wide range of illegal content on their platforms. Otherwise, they face heavy fines.
The Digital Services Act is a new EU law that is tested by the war between Israel and Hamas. Social media is awash with photos and videos of the carnage, along with posts by users making false claims and distorting videos of other events.
Last week, Brussels sent the first formal request under the DSA to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, owned by Elon Musk. Earlier, European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who is responsible for digital technologies in the bloc, sent warning letters to the three platforms, as well as YouTube, emphasising the risks these social media platforms could face. Breton said in a speech Wednesday:
In our exchanges with the platforms, we have specifically asked them to prepare for the risk of live broadcasts of executions by Hamas — an imminent risk from which we must protect our citizens — and we are seeking assurances that the platforms are well prepared for such possibilities.
