Musk vs the EU – and Britain tips the balance
12 August 2024
X's role in the racist riots in Britain could backfire for the social media platform on an EU level. The European Commission said that X’s role in the riots could be considered during its ongoing investigation into the social media platform.
Analysis has shown that misinformation about the origins of the alleged attacker was quickly spread. Highly influential accounts, such as Andrew Tate’s and an account called 'European Invasion' falsely claimed that the attacker was a Muslim "asylum seeker" who had come to the UK by boat last year, despite the fact that the attacker was born in the UK. Elon Musk himself contributed to spreading disinformation by replying to a tweet with a false and xenophobic remark about immigration, significantly increasing its reach.
EU regulators started a probe into X last December to assess whether X has violated the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU's landmark regulations governing digital platforms. The investigation focuses on X's failure to moderate illegal content and disinformation.
Brussels is now watching closely, and things could get uncomfortable for Musk. If the European Commission confirms that X has breached the DSA and the platform fails to address issues related to misinformation and hate speech, it could face a hefty fine of up to 6% of its global annual turnover. A final decision is not expected until late 2024 or early 2025.
 | Thibault Krause X supercharged the recent riots in Britain, enabling the spread of misinformation and hatred. Additionally, X's owner, Elon Musk, said the UK `Government shouldn't crack down on misinformation and hate speech and himself amplified rhetoric inciting violence. Elon Musk should be very careful on how he and his platform deal with the UK riots. Since the acquisition of Twitter, which has since been renamed X, Musk has struggled to make the platform profitable. More and more advertisers are shunning and boycotting X. Should X actually breach the DSA, it'll face a considerable financial burden. However, the world's richest man, Musk, won't be too impressed – he has repeatedly demonstrated that he is neither afraid nor willing to bow to commercial or legal pressure. In Brussels, there is still hope that there is a financial limit at which Musk will have to back down. |
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