The EU-EU warned Musk to "reply within 24 hours" or impose a hefty fine
According to a number of media reports, after the outbreak of a new round of conflict between Palestine and Israel, relevant false news on social platforms began to flood. It is reported that on the 10th local time, European Commissioner Thierry Breton issued a warning letter to Musk, the holder of the social platform X (formerly Twitter), about the fake news about Hamas-Israel on the platform, and asked Musk to respond within 24 hours. The warning letter mentioned that if the European Commission investigates non-compliance, the company and Musk may be penalized.
It is understood that after the acquisition of X, Musk has disbanded the team that dealt with false information. According to reports, if Musk does not comply, he may face high fines, and even X's business in the EU may be completely stopped.
Fake news is rampant
Israeli lawmakers say "bombing Gaza" marked as "violent"
There are reports that after the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, disinformation and videos related to it flooded social platforms. These accounts spread false news by modifying the content of files, modifying video subtitles, and mispairing images, videos, and text.
On the social platform Instagram, on the 7th, there was news that Israeli general Nimrrod Aloni was captured by Hamas, and the post was widely spread on the Internet. However, an Israeli defense spokesman confirmed that there was no basis for this claim. In the army discussion meeting released by the Israeli military on the 8th, Aloni also appeared in the video. The Israeli military confirmed to the media that the person appearing in the video was indeed Aloni. Currently, the content has been flagged as "fake news" by the platform.
▲ The Israeli military confirmed to the media that the person appearing in the video is indeed Aloni.
On the 8th, there was news on the social platform X that "US President Biden announced $8 billion in military aid to Israel", accompanied by a statement. However, the White House confirmed on the 9th that this picture and this statement are forged. According to the report, the original of the memorandum appears to be a document from the time the United States announced military assistance to Ukraine earlier, which was doctored and posted to social networks.
However, John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator of the US National Security Council, confirmed on the 9th that US military assistance to Israel is indeed "on the way." On the 10th, Biden said that the United States will provide Israel with more additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors, to supplement Israel's "Iron Dome" defense system.
In addition, two videos of "Russian President Vladimir Putin warning the United States to stay away from the war in Gaza" are circulating on social platforms, and the two videos are accompanied by incorrect English subtitles. In fact, these two video speech clips made by Putin in Russian are about the issues related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that Putin previously discussed, and have nothing to do with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In addition to disinformation, violent information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also flooding social platforms. Knesset member Revetta Gottliv reportedly posted on X that after the Hamas attack, Israel should not relent in using "doomsday weapons (i.e., Israeli intercontinental missiles) to blow up Gaza." Gottlief wrote: "Powerful missiles should be fired at each other without limit, not just to raze one community, but to 'destroy the whole of Gaza.'" It is reported that the tweet has been flagged as "possible violation of the principle of prohibiting violent speech", but X has not removed it from social platforms.
The European Union warned Musk to reply within 24 hours, and Musk responded
In the above-mentioned warning letter to Musk, European Commissioner Breton said that after the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, there are signs that X has become a hotbed for the dissemination of illegal content and disinformation in the EU. In the strongly worded warning letter, he wrote: "First, you need to be very transparent and clear about what is acceptable in your policies. This is especially important when it comes to the platform's violent and terrorist content. Second, when you receive notification of illegal content in the EU, please take prompt, swift and objective action and, where reasonable, remove the relevant content. Third, you need to take effective measures to mitigate the impact of disinformation on public safety. ”
Breton urged Musk to provide a prompt, accurate and complete response within 24 hours, warning that he could be investigated and that penalties could be imposed if non-compliance is found.
Below the tweet, Musk responded: "Our policy is to be transparent about everything, and we know that the EU supports that." Please list the violations you pointed out on X so that the public can see them. Thank you so much. ”
Red Star News reporter Li Jinrui
Edited by Zhang Xun Edited by Feng Lingling