EU alerts Musk to possible probe regarding content related to Hamas

On Tuesday, the EU gave Elon Musk 24 hours to explain plans to better counter Hamas videos on X, formerly Twitter.

Musk bought X last year, and E.U. Commissioner Thierry Breton wrote on X that it “is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU.” He threatened an investigation and penalties if Musk or the platform didn't respond.

“We have, from qualified sources, reports about potentially illegal content circulating on your service despite flags from relevant authorities,” Breton said.

A spokesperson for the European Commission, the legislative and enforcement arm of the E.U., said in an email that the site's proliferation of Hamas videos violates the Digital Services Act and its Terrorist Content Online regulation.

The spokesperson said Hamas-related online content is terrorist content, is illegal, and must be removed under DSA and TCO because the organizations are on the EU's terrorism list.

One coordinated propaganda campaign on X falsely captioned videos of Russian officials saying U.S. support for Israel would escalate military support for Palestine. Many of its accounts are still visible after millions of views.