Israel-Hamas Crisis: EU Warns Mark Zuckerberg, Issues 24 Hours Ultimatum

The European Union (EU) has warned the owner of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, over the spread of “disinformation” on Meta’s social media platforms after Hamas attacked Israel.

The EU, along with this, gave the owner of Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, 24 hours to respond and comply with European law.

According to BBC, the EU Commissioner, Thierry Breton told Meta to show proof it has taken “timely, diligent and objective action” against the spread of misinformation.

In a letter dated October 10, the EU Commissioner has similarly warned billionaire owner of X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk, against allowing the platform to be used for disinformation amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Breton, in the letter to Musk, said, “Following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, we have indications that your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU.

“This is particularly relevant regarding violent and terrorist content that appears to circulate on your platform. Your latest changes in public interest policies that occurred overnight left many European users uncertain.”

Similarly, in a letter to Zuckerberg, the EU Commissioner gave him 24 hours to tell him about the “proportionate and effective” measures it had taken to counter the spread of disinformation on its platforms.

A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that “After the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel on Saturday, we quickly established a special operations centre staffed with experts, including fluent Hebrew and Arabic speakers, to closely monitor and respond to this rapidly evolving situation.

“Our teams are working around the clock to keep our platforms safe, take action on content that violates our policies or local law, and coordinate with third-party fact-checkers in the region to limit the spread of misinformation. We’ll continue this work as this conflict unfolds.”

Meanwhile, the European Commission as well cautioned all social media companies that they are legally required to prevent the spread of harmful content related to Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is a proscribed terrorist group in the EU.

“Content circulating online that can be associated to Hamas qualifies as terrorist content is illegal, and needs to be removed under both the Digital Services Act and Terrorist Content Online Regulation,” a Commission’s spokesperson reportedly said.