Elon Musk Facing Sanctions Over Gruesome Videos of Hamas Attacks Being Spread on X

Elon Musk is under fire for the gruesome and disturbing content that overtook his social network X in the wake of Hamas' attack on Israel Saturday, RadarOnline.com has learned, now facing the threat of sanctions as well as potentially substantial fines.

Europe's commissioner in charge of social media content rules, Thierry Breton, demanded an explanation from the billionaire entrepreneur to explain why graphic photos and disinformation about the Middle East crisis have been widespread on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter over the past several days.

A report from Politico noted both sides have a lot at stake. Musk will want to defend his reputation as a responsible owner while upholding his commitment to free speech.

The EU, on the other hand, will be keen to ensure the information being spread on X follows their regulation, known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), regarding the dissemination of illegal content, transparent advertising, and disinformation.

X will likely be one of the first companies to be investigated under the EU's social media rules.

An urgent letter sent to Musk on the DSA obligations noted there were three important aspects that needed to be promptly addressed. "First, you need to be very transparent and clear on what content is permitted under your terms and consistently and diligently enforce your own policies," Breton wrote, noting it's "particularly relevant when it comes to violent and terrorist content" that circulates on the platform.

"Second, when you receive notices of illegal content in the EU, you must be timely, diligent and objective in taking action and removing the relevant content when unwarranted," the stern letter continued. "Third, you need have in place proportionate and effective mitigation measures to tackle the risks to public security and civic discourse stemming from disinformation."

"I urge you to ensure a prompt, accurate and complete response to this request within the next 24 hours," Breton wrote on Tuesday.

Linda Yaccarino, X's chief executive, wrote a timely response, assuring Breton they had taken measures. She said they are aware of their global responsibility to protect the public conversation, and have removed or labeled potentially harmful content.

"There is no place for violent and hateful entities on X," the rules she provided stated.

Furthermore, Yaccarino said they are working with law enforcement agencies and adding "community notes," or crowd-sourced fact-checks, to certain content.

Musk offered his own response via the platform hours after being tagged in Breton's post. "Our policy is that everything is open source and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports," the Tesla CEO wrote. "Please list the violations you allude to on 𝕏, so that that the public can see them. Merci beaucoup."

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Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Breton also fired off a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and to Meta's Mark Zuckerberg to ensure their content followed the rules.