The EU is probing Meta and TikTok’s Israel-Hamas response<p>The European Union (EU) has sent <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:1;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/mex_23_5145" data-original-link="
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/mex_23_5145">official requests[/url] to Meta and TikTok for information about their response to content relating to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The panel’s decisions carry significant weight under the recently passed <a data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/european-union-digital-markets-services-acts-131818075.html">Digital Services Act (DSA)[/url], which gives European Commissioner Thierry Breton broad authority to impose heavy fines on the tech behemoths. It follows a move last week to <a data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/the-eu-is-probing-xs-response-to-israel-hamas-misinformation-204101029.html">open an investigation into X[/url] (formerly Twitter).</p>
<p>The Commission is asking Meta for more information about what it’s done to mitigate illegal content and misinformation related to the ongoing violence in the Middle East. The TikTok request specifically calls out “the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech” and misinformation on the platform. In addition, the Commission wants additional information from TikTok about “its provisions related to the protection of minors online,” and from Meta related to how it's protecting election integrity.</p>
<span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><p>“By pointing out the responsibility of platforms — and their CEOs — in the management (or lack of management) of illegal content distributed on their platforms, we are sending out a very explicit signal: things have changed in Europe,” Commissioner Breton said in a related <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:4;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_23_5126" data-original-link="
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_23_5126">speech[/url] Wednesday to Parliament. “There is a law. It must be respected.”</p>
<div id="dc95c5da4c3c4c52ad82d5ea6ae1c084"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We will not let terror and
#disinformation divide us or undermine our democracy
