Yaccarino, Musk, and Bluesky: X CEO and Digital Services Commissioner Linda Breton meets Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai
X CEO Linda Yaccarino says the social media platform formerly known as Twitter has identified and removed “hundreds” of Hamas-affiliated accounts, and has “taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content” in the wake of terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel. The letter from Yaccarino was sent in response to concerns raised by the EU commissioner about how X is being used to distribute illegal content and misinformation.
The pair then engaged in a brief but public exchange. Musk was given a 24 hour deadline to respond, while Breton was told to provide more information publicly. The commissioner said his people would get in touch. “No backroom deals,” the billionaire shot back. Breton’s next post on X invited his followers to join him on Bluesky, a competing social media platform.
Breton has become the face of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a sweeping rule book for the internet giants designed to protect human rights and limit the spread of illegal content online. The 68-year-old has embraced meetings with Big Tech executives as part of that role. In the past year, he’s been pictured with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, explaining how their companies should follow the new rules. Before Musk officially bought X, then Twitter, the Frenchman flew to Texas to meet him, also extracting a video pledge from Musk that the platform would comply with the regulation.
“Breton is a politician, eager to keep himself in the press cycle for as long as possible in the run-up to the elections,” says a well-placed source in Brussels, who asks to be anonymous because they work closely with Breton’s team.
Penfrat: Using the Threat of Powers to Make X Unintentional About the Israel-Hamas War Legally and Efficiently
Jan Penfrat, senior policy adviser at the digital rights group, says that using the threat of powers it would make platforms do things they aren’t obliged to do. “We confirm that we are 100 percent in line with enforcement procedures of the DSA,” says an EU official, declining to be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
There have been widespread reports of misinformation and disinformation spreading on X surrounding the Israel-Hamas war. The Guardian has collated numerous examples of such content, some with millions of views, that includes videos and images being shared out of context. Researchers claim to have found a network of 67 accounts that are posting false and inflammatory content about the war.
Yaccarino’s letter also emphasizes how X has been using Community Notes in an attempt to combat misinformation on its platform, noting that over 700 unique notes are being shown on the platform relating to the attacks. Some posts fail to be labeled at all and community notes can take hours or days to be approved, according to a report from NBC News.
