In December 2023, the EU Executive initiated legal proceedings against X for its management of disinformation and illegal content spread on its platform.
The response of X to the riots in United Kingdom could be taken into account during the European Commission’s investigation, launched within the framework of the Digital Services Lawagainst the platform of Elon Muska spokesperson for the Community Executive told ‘Euronews’ this Thursday.
The procedure initiated by the Commission against X in December 2023 was the first initiated within the framework of the incipient Digital Services Act (‘DSA’), the EU reference regulation on digital platforms.
The investigation is assessing whether X may have breached the DSA in areas relating to risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency and access to data by researchers. It was triggered in response to the lack of moderation of illegal content and misinformationin particular terrorist and violent content in the context of war between Israel and Hamas.
Since July 30, a knife attack caused fatalities in a dance workshop for children in Southport, A series of violent riots has spread across the UK.
British broadcasting regulator calls for responsibility from digital platforms
La red social X has played a central role in thesaga until now: it was first used as a tool to incite discomfort and the disinformation about the Southport attack and has since served as a conduit for billionaire tech mogul and owner of Elon Muskcritic al british prime minister and amplify the rhetoric that has led to subsequent violence.
In an open letter, the british broadcasting regulator this Thursday urged social media companies to prevent their platforms from being used to spread violence in the midst of the unrest that is taking place in the country.
European Commission monitors X’s role in British riots
When asked if the situation in the United Kingdom could influence the Commission’s investigation, a spokesperson for the bloc’s Executive told ‘Euronews’ that “we cannot be naive, of courseand there could be possible repercussions in the EU”.
The Commission is closely monitoring the situation in the UK, but also X’s response to the developments, the spokesperson said. “These incidents that are currently being produced in the UK and X’s response to them could be taken into account during the procedure what we have open against Xespecially in matters of disinformation and illegal content“added the spokesperson.
If the investigation concludes that there has been a violation and X does not take corrective measures, the platform could be imposed fines of up to 6% of global annual turnover. Musk has previously rejected the conclusions of the European Commission regarding non-compliance with the DSA.
