EU Investigating Musk’s X Platform Over Handling of Israel–Hamas War Content

The European Union is investigating the X social media app, formerly known as Twitter, over its content moderation practices amid the ongoing Israel–Hamas conflict. The European Commission announced on Monday that it’s specifically investigating whether X’s content moderation practices violate the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). In particular, the investigation is set to focus on whether X allowed content that is illegal under the DSA to be shared “in the context of Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel” when Hamas terrorists breached the Israel–Gaza barrier on Oct. 7 and proceeded to kill hundreds of people. Under existing EU laws, illegal online content can include a number of categories, such as content that incites or otherwise contributes to terrorism. Illegal content under EU laws can also include hate speech and incitement to violence. The European Commission did not specify exactly what types of illegal content appeared on X following the Hamas attacks that might constitute illegal online content, but it is known that images of the attacks were captured and shared on the platform....