After mostly European pressure, glorification of Hamas’ actions will almost certainly earn you a ban from Twitter/X.
Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of Elon Musk’s Twitter/X, announced that the platform has taken significant action to address the proliferation of illegal content related to Hamas. Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, Twitter/X has removed hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts and labeled or taken down thousands of pieces of content. This response comes in the context of new European Union digital rules aimed at cleaning up social media platforms.
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, social media companies are required to actively police their platforms for illegal content or face substantial fines. Twitter/X has committed to diligently addressing such content and ensuring there is no place for terrorist organizations or violent extremist groups on the platform. Additionally, Twitter/X has employed and continues to facilitate use of Community Notes, enabling users to add their own fact-checks to posts.
Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and renaming it to X, the platform has faced criticism for promoting falsehoods, with a study commissioned by the EU ranking it as the worst-performing platform for online disinformation, without taking in account things like Community Notes or effective content moderation. Other social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook are also grappling with a flood of unsubstantiated rumors and falsehoods related to the Middle East conflict. As long as it lives, the European Union will always act as if we can regulate ourselves to freedom. We can’t. End of story.
