Following the recent Hamas attacks on Israel, the social media network X, formerly known as Twitter, has banned hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts, declaring that "terrorist organizations have no place on X."

 

 

 

"X is committed to serving the public conversation, particularly in critical moments like this, and recognizes the importance of dealing with any illegal content that may be disseminated through the platform." "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 groups," stated Linda Yaccarino, CEO of the social networking site.

 

A 24-hour ultimatum given by European Union industry head Thierry Breton to Elon Musk pushing him to battle the spread of misinformation on X and assure compliance with new EU online content standards spurred the quick response from X. Breton expressed alarm over the platform's suspected role in the distribution of illicit content and disinformation within the European Union.

 

Large online platforms, such as X and Meta's Facebook (META.O), are obligated to take more aggressive efforts to remove unlawful information and address threats to public security and civic debate under the recently enacted EU's Digital Services Act (DSA).

 

Yaccarino emphasized that immediately following the incident, X formed a leadership group to assess the situation.

Yaccarino indicated X's desire to engage further with the EU and its team in a letter addressed to Breton, including attending a meeting to discuss any particular issues. The CEO was anxiously awaiting new details to which the platform might properly respond.

 

According to the letter, X indicated that it had replied to more than 80 EU takedown requests within the appropriate time period and had not received any alerts from Europol reporting unlawful content on its site.

 

Thierry Breton issued a similar warning to Meta on October 9, giving the business 24 hours to disclose information on the efforts taken to fight disinformation circulated through its platforms in the aftermath of the Israel strike.

 

Notably, the dead toll in Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7 has risen to 1,300, with 3300 injured, including 28 critically injured and 350 seriously injured, according to The Times of Israel, citing Hebrew media reports.

 

According to the report, the fate of an estimated 150 persons seized and brought to the Gaza Strip after Hamas's onslaught is still unknown.