How X’s handling of UK riots could influence ongoing EU probe into the platform
An ongoing European Commission investigation into social media platform X could be influenced by the platform’s handling of content related to riots in the UK, a spokesperson said on Friday (9 August).
Last month, European Union officials issued charges against X, owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires very large online platforms like X to do more to tackle illegal content and risks to public security. The charges revolve around advertising transparency and the platform’s blue checkmarks. Musk said he would sue the Commission over its accusations.
Two parts of the DSA investigation, launched in December 2023, into X are outstanding: illegal content and disinformation.
X’s involvement in the UK riots cannot be directly taken into account in the DSA investigation, but can inform the Commission’s probe in a broad sense, the spokesperson told Euractiv. The Commission is “closely following” the situation in the UK, as well as X’s response, because “it can say a lot” about their response to such incidents, the spokesperson said.
Should there be “spillovers” in the EU, such as content glorifying the riots or calling for similar protests, this could be part of the DSA ongoing investigation, said the spokesperson. This is the case with the October 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel, after which there were posts glorifying them in Europe, according to the spokesperson.
Elon Musk to sue the EU Commission after accusations of X breaching digital rulebook
The European Commission accused social media platform X of breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA) over its verified accounts policy and lapses in transparency, in preliminary findings released on Friday (12 July).
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While Britain has not been a member of the EU since 2020, harmful content in breach of DSA rules shared in Britain may have been seen by users in Europe, constituting a potential breach of the law.
Britain has been hit by a series of riots that erupted after three young girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport, northwest England, triggering a wave of false messaging online that wrongly identified the suspected killer as an Islamist migrant.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, has also weighed in. Responding to a post on X that blamed mass migration and open borders for the disorder in Britain, he wrote: “Civil war is inevitable.”
Elon Musk comments the UK riots to his 192 million followers:
"Civil war is inevitable"
As Elon is most probably completely oblivious about what’s actually going on in the UK, this is EXTREMELY dangerous provocation and a direct attack against democracy. pic.twitter.com/EQI8MSFk5b
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) August 5, 2024
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