Twitter/X erases thousands of Israel-Hamas posts after EU disinfo warning

Jack Dutton

Oct 12, 2023

X Linda Yaccarino — Linda Yaccarino, CEO, X/Twitter speaks onstage during Vox Media's 2023 Code Conference at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel on Sept. 27, 2023, in Dana Point, California. — Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media

Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive of X, the company formerly known as Twitter, said on Thursday the social media platform has removed “tens of thousands of pieces of content” since Hamas attacked Israel, after the European Union gave the company 24 hours to show they were taking action to combat the spread of “disinformation” on the war.

EU digital rights chief Thierry Breton shared on X letters to X owner Elon Musk and Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg stating that the EU has "indications that your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation” that has arisen as a result of the Hamas-Israel conflict, which began last Saturday.

Breton announced the letter to Musk on Tuesday before sharing the Zuckerberg one a day later. On Thursday, the EU official issued a similar ultimatum to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.

The EU gave the tech companies 24 hours to respond to the request; otherwise, a potential investigation and penalties could be imposed on them.