European Union gives Elon Musk 24 hours to remove illegal content

The European Union (EU) Commission announced that in recent days, illegal content containing violence and disinformation had been spreading on the X social media platform, and despite warnings, such content had not been removed. The owner of the company, Elon Musk, was been given 24 hours to remove this content.

Thierry Breton, the EU Commissioner responsible for digital services, sent a letter to Elon Musk, the owner of the X platform formerly known as Twitter. Breton, who shared the letter on the X platform, stated in the letter that there were indications that the X platform was being used to spread illegal content and misinformation in the EU following the attack by the armed wing of Hamas, the Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, on Israel.

Breton reminded that the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) imposed specific obligations on content, including the requirement to remove content containing violence or terrorism based on warnings from relevant authorities. He noted that they had seen that such content had not been removed despite warnings from relevant authorities.

Breton also mentioned that notifications had been made about the spread of false and manipulated images and information on the X platform, including images unrelated to the Israel-Palestine conflict, some of which even contained parts from video games.

Therefore, Breton has requested that the X platform take the necessary measures, provide information to its team about this, stay in contact with Europol and relevant law enforcement agencies, and respond quickly to requests.

Breton stated, “I kindly request that you provide a fast, accurate, and complete response to this request within the next 24 hours. We will add your response to our evaluation file regarding your compliance with the DSA. I remind you that penalties may be imposed following the initiation of a possible investigation and the determination of non-compliance.”