X Corp CEO Linda Yaccarino has responded to EU commissioner Thierry Breton’s warning about “illegal content and disinformation” spreading on the platform regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
In a letter posted to X (formerly known as Twitter) on Thursday morning, Yaccarino said the social media site has “taken action to remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content” that could include false information about the attacks in Israel.
“X is committed to serving the public conversation, especially in critical moments like this and understands the importance of addressing any illegal content that may be disseminated through the platform,” Yaccarino wrote. “There is no place on X for terrorist organizations or violent extremist groups and we continue to remove such accounts in real time, including proactive efforts.”
On Tuesday night, Breton gave X owner and former CEO Elon Musk 24 hours “to ensure a prompt, accurate and complete response” to his request for action. Yaccarino’s four-page reply outlined how X is addressing the issue, including working with law enforcement to take down “potentially illegal content” and using the platform’s Community Notes feature to add context to posts when needed.
Since Musk took ownership of X, the platform has been routinely criticized for changes that could be seen as making the spread of disinformation easier, including an update last week which removed headlines from articles posted on the site. He has also championed “citizen journalists,” encouraging users to post directly to the platform. “Citizen journalism breaks the monopoly held by a handful of editors – they naturally don’t like that,” Musk tweeted in May.
In response to Yaccarino’s letter, Breton wrote on X: “We have received the reply by @X to our letter raising concerns about the spread of illegal content and disinformation related to the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel. The #DSA enforcement team will analyse the reply and decide on next steps.”
