EU warns TikTok to tackle spread of disinformation amid Israel-Hamas conflict

European Union industry chief Thierry Breton on Thursday (Oct 12)warned TikTok about a surge in disinformation on the video sharing platform and gave it an ultimatum of 24 hours to detail measures it will take to counter the spread after Hamas militant group launched an unprecedented attack on Israel.

Breton's warning in a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, followed a similar one he sent to X owner Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this week.

"Given that your platform is extensively used by children and teenagers, you have a particular obligation to protect them from violent content depicting hostage-taking and other graphic videos which are reportedly widely circulating on your platform, without appropriate safeguards," he said in a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.

Breton told Chew his request was urgent and required a response "within the next 24 hours".

Tech mogul Zuckerberg was also asked to respond within 24 hours with the measures his organisation will take to counter the dissemination of disinformation.

"I would ask you to be very vigilant to ensure strict compliance with the DSA rules on terms of service, on the requirement of timely, diligent and objective action following notices of illegal content in the EU, and on the need for proportionate and effective mitigation measures," Breton told Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a letter.

X removes hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts

X CEO Linda Yaccarino, on Thursday, said that the platform had removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts and also took action against “tens of thousands of pieces of content”.

The move came a day after EU's top tech regulator's warning to X sparked an online duel between him and Musk where the SpaceX founder publicly asked the EU commissioner to "please list the violations you allude to on X", and said the platform's policy was that "everything was open source and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports".

To which Breton responded that it was up to Musk to "demonstrate that you walk the talk" and added that his team was standing by to "enforce rigorously" DSA compliance.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE