Musk receives EU warning for spreading disinformation on X after Hamas attack

WEB DESK: European Union (EU) Commissioner Thierry Breton issued a warning to Elon Musk on Tuesday regarding his platform “X,” formerly known as Twitter.

Breton’s letter, obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP), expressed grave concerns about the spread of “illegal content and disinformation” on the platform, particularly following the Hamas attack against Israel.

The letter demanded that Musk address the complaint and engage with “relevant law enforcement authorities” within the next 24 hours.

In a related development last night, the members of the Trust and Safety team at X announced the measures they were implementing to combat the rampant dissemination of disinformation related to the Israel-Hamas conflict on their platform.

The statement, released three days after the conflict commenced, emphasised the urgency of the situation: “As the events continue to unfold rapidly, a cross-company leadership group has assessed this moment as a crisis requiring the highest level of response.”

Notably absent from this crisis management effort was X owner Elon Musk. Instead of addressing the perilous disinformation issue on his platform, Musk continued to exacerbate the problem throughout the night and into the morning.

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He engaged in conversations with a well-known QAnon promoter, amplified anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, and even found amusement in a video detailing how transphobic content on X could attract new followers.

Additionally, Musk promoted a new feature for X Premium subscribers, allowing them to view replies only from others willing to pay $8 a month.

Musk claimed that this feature would “significantly alleviate spam bot issues” on the platform, despite his previous assertions that he had already nearly eradicated this problem.