Warning Letter Urging Countermeasures Sent
Blue Mark Account Shares Fake News
Calls for Revision of Content Regulation Policy Also Raised
The European Union (EU) has taken a strong stance against fake news spreading on the social networking service X (formerly Twitter) following the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Foreign media have evaluated that the introduction of the Blue Mark service on X after Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, acquired the platform has fueled the spread of misinformation, deeming Musk's SNS reform a failure.
According to the US economic media CNBC, on the 10th (local time), the EU sent a warning letter to Musk urging him to establish measures to prevent the spread of fake news on X. Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for Internal Market, stated in the letter, "We have detected signs that X is being used as a channel for spreading illegal content and false information," and demanded the removal of fake news and violent videos related to the Israel-Hamas war within 24 hours.
Commissioner Breton added, "Video game footage or military videos unrelated to the current situation are being widely shared on X in a manipulated form," noting, "This clearly appears to be false or misleading information."
According to Bloomberg, since Hamas launched airstrikes on Israel on the 8th, over 50 million posts related to the incident have been uploaded on X. On the 8th, a video claiming to show Hamas shooting down an Israeli helicopter was posted and garnered over 2 million views. However, it was revealed to be a manipulated scene from the video game 'Arma 3.' On the 9th, false information that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been urgently transported to a hospital also spread on X.
Commissioner Breton informed these facts on his X account, tagging the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) and Musk's X account. His tagging of the DSA appears to imply that failure to comply with the EU's content regulations could result in appropriate sanctions. Since August, the EU has introduced legislation to counter the spread of fake news and biased content on online platforms. Non-compliance may result in fines of up to 6% of annual global revenue.
Some view this as a clear indication of Musk's failure in SNS reform. The paid services such as the Blue Mark, introduced by Musk to change X's revenue structure, are evaluated to have contributed to the spread of fake news. X grants Blue Marks to users who subscribe to paid services. Posts shared by Blue Mark users are displayed higher in search results compared to other posts, which is criticized for having a greater impact on the spread of fake news.
Mike Rothschild, who studies fake news spreading on SNS, told Bloomberg, "Since October last year, X changed its content regulation policies, and the results became noticeably apparent when geopolitical crises occurred," adding, "It has now become impossible to distinguish what is true and what is conspiracy theory. This proves that Musk's version of Twitter has failed."
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