In response to the recent Hamas attacks on Israel, the social media platform X has undertaken the removal of numerous accounts associated with Hamas.
"X is committed to serving the public conversation, especially in critical moments like this and understands the importance of addressing any illegal content that may be disseminated through the platform. There is no place on X for terrorist organisations or violent extremists groups and we continue to remove such accounts in real-time, including proactive groups," said the social media platform's CEO, Linda Yaccarino.
As reported by ANI, X's rapid reaction can be attributed to a 24-hour ultimatum delivered by Thierry Breton, the European Union industry chief, to Elon Musk. In his message, Breton called upon Musk to address the propagation of disinformation on X and adhere to the recently established EU online content rules.
Breton expressed apprehensions regarding the platform's purported involvement in disseminating unlawful content and misinformation within the European Union.
The EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), recently put into effect, mandates that major online platforms such as X and Meta's Facebook (META.O) must adopt a more proactive stance in eliminating unlawful content and tackling challenges to public safety and democratic discourse, ANI reported.
Yaccarino stressed that subsequent to the attack, X formed a leadership team to swiftly assess the situation.
In a written communication directed to Breton, Yaccarino conveyed X's readiness to have more extensive interactions with the EU and its team, which could potentially involve arranging a meeting to tackle particular concerns.
X indicated that it promptly addressed over 80 takedown requests from the EU as per the stipulated time frame. Furthermore, the platform confirmed that it had not received any notifications from Europol regarding the presence of illicit content on its platform, ANI reported.
In a comparable action, Thierry Breton issued a caution to Meta on October 9, granting the company a 24-hour window to furnish details about the steps taken to counter the dissemination of disinformation through its platforms in the aftermath of the Israel attack.
Significantly, following the Hamas attack on October 7, the reported death toll in Israel has surged to 1,300, and approximately 3,300 individuals have sustained injuries, with 28 classified as being in critical condition and 350 in serious condition. These figures were reported by The Times of Israel, citing Hebrew media reports.
