The European Union (EU) has raised concerns about misleading information being shared on TikTok following the recent conflict involving Hamas in Israel.
The EU has sent a letter to TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, urging the company to take swift action to combat the problem and clarify how it plans to comply with European laws within the next 24 hours.
Misinformation, including altered images and incorrectly labeled videos, has been on the rise on social media platforms during this conflict.
The EU has previously warned X (formerly known as Twitter) and Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) about similar issues.
The EU emphasized that TikTok needs to be mindful of its large youth user base, stating that TikTok has a responsibility to protect young people from violent content, terrorist propaganda, dangerous challenges, and content that could be life-threatening.
EU Commissioner Thierry Breton stated on X that “TikTok has a particular obligation to protect children & teenagers from violent content and terrorist propaganda as well as death challenges & potentially life-threatening content.”
The BBC has reached out to TikTok for a response.
X was given a similar 24-hour deadline to respond to the EU’s concerns.
Linda Yaccarino, X’s CEO, responded by informing the EU that they had already removed or flagged tens of thousands of pieces of content and removed hundreds of accounts since the Hamas attack on Israel.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has also received a warning from the EU regarding disinformation and a 24-hour deadline to address the issue.
The EU did not comment on whether it had received a response from Meta, but a European Commission spokesperson mentioned that ongoing discussions were taking place with Meta’s compliance teams.
A Meta spokesperson informed the BBC that they had established a special operations center to monitor and respond to the situation, and they were working diligently to keep their platforms safe and limit the spread of misinformation during the conflict.
Yaccarino, X’s CEO, mentioned that they had reallocated resources and focused internal teams on addressing the issue.
They have responded to over 80 requests from the EU to remove content and added contextual notes to certain posts.
Yaccarino explained, “More than 700 unique notes related to the attacks and unfolding events are showing on X.
These notes are displayed on an additional 5,000+ posts that contain matching images or videos.
This number grows automatically if the relevant images and videos are re-used in new posts.”
The EU commissioner, Thierry Breton, has demanded that X and Meta prove that they are taking timely, diligent, and objective actions to combat disinformation.
In August 2023, the EU introduced the Digital Services Act (DSA), which regulates the kind of content allowed online.
This act requires large online platforms to proactively remove illegal content and demonstrate their measures to do so upon request.
While the EU did not provide specific details on the next steps, they explained that under the law, they could conduct interviews and inspections.
If a platform is found to be non-compliant and poses risks to users, the EU can impose heavy fines or, as a last resort, request temporary bans within the EU.
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