The CEO of X, Linda Yaccarino has responded to the European Commission’s concerns that the platform was allowing illegal content and disinformation about the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Yaccarino in a response letter to the EU posted on her X page, said since the terrorist attack on Israel, the platform had taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content, while Community Notes are visible on thousands of posts, generating millions of impressions.
She said X has also been ‘responding promptly to law enforcement requests from around the world, including EU member states. Yaccarino also explained to the EU how the platform has been enforcing its rules to fight disinformation.
According to her, shortly after the news broke about the Hamas attack, X assembled a leadership group to assess the situation.
She added that the company had so far responded to more than 80 take-down requests received in the EU within the required timelines since the beginning of the conflict.
X rules
Highlighting the rules the platform has put in place to guard against disinformation and violent posts, Yaccarino said:
- “Our service has clear rules that prohibit violent & hateful entities, perpetrators of violent attacks violent speech, sensitive media”, and synthetic and manipulated media policy.
- “There is no place for violent & hateful entities on X, including (but not limited to) terrorist organizations, violent extremist groups, perpetrators of violent attacks, or individuals who affiliate with and promote their illicit activities. Under this policy, users may not threaten terrorism and/or violent extremism, nor promote violent and hateful entities.
- “Also, the policy on perpetrators of violent attacks determines the removal of any accounts maintained by individual perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, or mass violent attacks, as well as any accounts glorifying the perpetrator(s), or dedicated to sharing manifestos and/or third party links where related content is hosted. We may also remove posts disseminating manifestos or other content produced by perpetrators.
- “Our rules on violent speech forbid violent threats, such as threatening to inflict physical harm on others, which includes (but is not limited to) threatening to kill, torture, sexually assault, or otherwise hurt someone. This also includes threatening to damage civilian homes and shelters, or infrastructure that is essential to daily, civic, or business activities. It also forbids the act of wishing harm to another person.
- “This means that X users may not wish, hope, or express the desire for harm on the platform. This includes (but is not limited to) hoping for others to die, suffer illnesses, or tragic incidents, or experience other physically harmful consequences. This policy also prohibits incitement of violence and glorification of violence on our services.”
Yaccarino added that X’s sensitive media policy also restricts users from posting and sharing media that contains graphic content, adult nudity, and sexual behaviour.
She added that X is committed to transparency, safety, and the successful implementation of the European Digital Service Act (DSA) and would continue to take all appropriate steps to that end.
EU’s concerns
The EU had in an open letter to Elon Musk on Wednesday, gave the billionaire owner of X 24 hours to respond by complying with the European regulations around illegal content or face sanction, which could result in fines worth 6% of the company’s annual revenue.
In a letter posted on X, European commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, there are indications that groups are spreading misinformation and “violent and terrorist” content on X, and urged the billionaire to respond within a 24-hour period.
The letter came after numerous researchers, news organizations and other groups have documented a rise of misleading, false, and questionable content on X, creating confusion about the current conflict. Specifically, Cyabra, an Israeli analysis firm that has tracked bot accounts on Twitter/X, historically found a huge amount of fake accounts spreading pro-Hamas propaganda on the platform.