Israel War – Hamas: EU warns Tiktok of violent images
The European Commission warned Chinese social network TikTok on Thursday about the spread of «illegal content» and «false information» after warnings similar to Meta and X (ex-Twitter), following Hamas’ attacks on Israel.
«Your platform is used extensively by children and teenagers. You have a special obligation to protect them from violent content that seems to circulate widely on your platform without any particular security device» European Commissioner for Digital Affairs Thierry Breton wrote in a letter to the head of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, published on social networks Bluesky and X. «We have received reports from qualified sources of potentially illegal content circulating on your service despite alerts issued by the competent authorities» he said
Humiliating videos of hostages, decapitated bodies, filmed assassinations… Social networks have been inundated with violent images but also attempts at misinformation, since Hamas’ attacks on Saturday morning, a challenge for all platforms.
As he did Tuesday for the boss of X, Elon Musk, and Wednesday for that of Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Mark Zuckerberg, Thierry Breton recalled the obligations regarding the moderation of publications and the removal of illegal content resulting from the new European legislation on digital services (DSA) which came into force at the end of August.
«With many users, especially minors, turning to your platform as a source of information, reliable sources need to be adequately differentiated from terrorist propaganda» he said. The European Commissioner refers to the circulation of falsified and manipulated images and facts as well as false or misleading information.
