X is a Russian catapult for disinformation – the EU threatens Elon Musk with consequences

The online platform X, formerly Twitter, has the largest share of disinformation of the six largest social media platforms in Europe. This is evident from research by the European Commission, the BBC reported on Tuesday. More than 6,000 posts on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X and YouTube were examined.

The study analyzed content in three EU countries at particular risk of disinformation: Spain, Poland and Slovakia. These countries are at risk of becoming targets of Russian disinformation due to elections or the proximity of the war in Ukraine.

The responsible EU Commissioner Vera Jourova has issued a clear warning to those responsible for X and especially to Elon Musk: “You must strictly adhere to the law. We will watch what you do.”

Jourova stressed that all social media platforms must take action and strengthen their measures in the run-up to next year’s national and European elections.

There are severe penalties

In 2018, X, then called Twitter, joined many other social media platforms in a voluntary EU code of conduct to combat disinformation. However, the American company withdrew from the agreement under the leadership of Elon Musk.

But that doesn’t mean X is off the hook, as EU Commissioner Vera Jourova emphasized on Tuesday.

X falls under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA). This is intended to more strictly regulate the behavior of large tech platforms – the EU intends to convert the voluntary code into a code of conduct within the framework of this law.

Violations of the DSA can result in fines of up to six percent of annual global turnover, which amounts to tens of billions.

Putin’s Russia in his sights

In September, the EU accused the operators of major social media platforms of failing to stop “large-scale” Russian disinformation campaigns since the invasion of Ukraine. On the contrary, the “reach and influence of Kremlin-backed accounts” are said to have continued to grow in 2023.

The EU Commissioner now said:

Russia is targeting the Europeans with a “million-dollar weapon of mass manipulation” and the major social media platforms must confront this danger, she added, the BBC report said.

The threat is particularly serious because of the war in Ukraine and the upcoming European elections.

In the early months of the Russian invasion, Musk supported Ukraine in its defense efforts by supplying the country with the Starlink satellite internet system operated by his company SpaceX. In October 2022, the tech billionaire briefly threatened to end free support for Starlink in Ukraine. He then signed a contract with the US government to finance and continue to operate the system.

However, reports subsequently appeared in the US media claiming that Musk had been in contact with senior Russian officials during Putin’s criminal war of aggression and had also thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Navy.

Sources