EU official criticizes Meta, X platforms for insufficient measures to halt disinformation

An EU commissioner has written two open letters to large social media platforms as a surge in disinformation surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict has posed a significant challenge for social media platforms and EU institutions responsible for enforcing new content moderation standards.

According to Euractiv, Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton has issued an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (the owner of Facebook and Instagram), and Elon Musk, CEO of X (an unspecified platform), addressing the proliferation of illegal content and disinformation in the EU.

As of August 25, the Digital Services Act (DSA) has been in effect, which holds 19 designated "very large online platforms" accountable for moderating illegal content when reported by users.

Breton urged these platforms to adhere to DSA rules, promptly remove illegal content flagged by users, and collaborate with law enforcement authorities and Europol, the EU police authority. He gave the companies a 24-hour deadline to provide a thorough response to his requests.

Some politicians are considering migrating to alternative platforms in the wake of ramping disinformation and lack of moderation by its owners.As a symbolic gesture, Breton chose to advertise his account on Bluesky, for example, a new social media platform that has been promoted as a competitor to X.

This move may be seen as a political statement by some, indicating dissatisfaction with existing platforms' content moderation efforts. Breton noted in the letter “even though the grass is not (always) greener on the other side, the sky is sometimes… bluer”, referring to the new platform.

The publication recalls, that many German politicians have started to move to Bluesky after Musk supported the German anti-migrant and far-right party AfD.