Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Spreading "Disinformation" After Hamas Attack, Warns EU

European Union warned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday urging the billionaire to remove disinformation on his platforms after Hamas's attack on Israel. European Commissioner Thierry Breton wrote a letter to Mr Zuckerberg.

On Wednesday, it told Meta that it has "24 hours" to respond and comply with European law. Meta owns popular social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, as well as Threads.

Mr Breton in his letter wrote, "In light of a number of serious developments, let me recall the precise obligations regarding content moderation under the EU Digital Services Act."

"Firstly, following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel we are seeing a surge of illegal content and disinformation being disseminated in the E.U. via certain platforms," it continued. "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 E.U."

In a letter, he said the firm had 24 hours to tell him about the "proportionate and effective" measures it had taken to counter the spread of disinformation on its platforms, BBC reported.

If Meta fails to comply with the disinformation regulations included in the E.U.'s DSA Act, the company will have to pay penalties for platforms, which include potential fines of up to 6 % of total worldwide annual turnover.

Earlier, the EU also warned X, formerly known as Twitter, about such content.

Mr Breton warned Elon Musk that his platform X is spreading "illegal content and disinformation."

Following the militant Islamist group Hamas' attack on Israel and Israel's retaliatory airstrikes in the Palestinian enclave Gaza, social media firms have seen a surge in misinformation related to the conflict, including doctored images and mislabelled videos, alongside images of graphic violence, Reuters reported.