EU urges Meta to be ‘very vigilant’ in removing ‘illegal content’ from platforms

The European Union urged Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to be “very vigilant” about removing “illegal content” and disinformation from its platforms, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Thierry Breton, the EU’s Commissioner for Internal Market, sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday about the “surge of illegal content and disinformation being disseminated in the EU via certain platforms.”

He called on Zuckerberg to be “very vigilant to ensure strict compliance” with the Digital Services Act — a set of rules enacted by the EU last year to regulate online platforms throughout the bloc.

Breton emphasized that Meta is required to take “timely, diligent and objective action” after being notified of illegal content on its platforms and should take “proportionate and effective mitigation measures” against such content.

X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, received a similar, more sternly worded warning from Breton on Tuesday after seeing “indications that your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU.”

Breton noted that potentially illegal content continued to circulate on X despite being flagged for authorities and reminded owner Elon Musk that he must take action and remove relevant content “when warranted.”

He also called on Musk to be “very transparent and clear” about what content is permitted and “consistently and diligently enforce your own policies,” as well as to put in place measures to “tackle the risks to public security and civic discourse stemming from disinformation.”

X has faced scrutiny in recent days for amplifying misleading information about the war in Israel, including posts misrepresenting old images and footage as recent and false claims from accounts posing as official news outlets.

The platform’s trust and safety team said on Monday that it is “laser focused and dedicated to protecting the conversation on X”, noting that it had removed newly created Hamas-affiliated accounts and “tens of thousands of posts” with graphic media, violent speech and hateful conduct.