EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Thierry Breton
Member of the Commission
Brussels, 10 October 2023
Dear Mr Musk,
Following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, we have indications that your platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the EU.
Let me remind you that the Digital Services Act sets very precise obligations regarding content moderation.
First, you need to be very transparent and clear on what content is permitted under your terms and consistently and diligently enforce your own policies. This is particularly relevant when it comes to violent and terrorist content that appears to circulate on your platform. Your latest changes in public interest policies that occurred over night left many European users uncertain.
Second, when you receive notices of illegal content in the EU, you must be timely, diligent and objective in taking action and removing the relevant content when warranted. We have, from qualified sources, reports about potentially illegal content circulating on your service despite flags from relevant authorities.
Third, you need have in place proportionate and effective mitigation measures to tackle the risks to public security and civic discourse stemming from disinformation. Public media and civil society organisations widely report instances of fake and manipulated images and facts circulating on your platform in the EU, such as repurposed old images of unrelated armed conflicts or military footage that actually originated from video games. This appears to be manifestly false or misleading information.
I therefore invite you to urgently ensure that your systems are effective, and report on the crisis measures taken to my team.
Given the urgency, I also expect you to be in contact with the relevant law enforcement authorities and Europol, and ensure that you respond promptly to their requests.
Moreover, on a number of other issues of DSA compliance that deserve immediate attention, my team will follow up shortly with a specific request.
I urge you to ensure a prompt, accurate and complete response to this request within the next 24 hours. We will include your answer in our assessment file on your compliance with the DSA. I remind you that following the opening of a potential investigation and a finding of non-compliance, penalties can be imposed.
@CynicalPublius Yes, Google is misinterpreting the rules
“. . . information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified."
This quote was fed into google.
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I fed in the longer, complete quote
“. . . information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released by any military member, DoW civilian employee or contract employee, even if it is unclassified.”
- still misinterpreted
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@CynicalPublius I believe that Google interprets this from an authoritative perspective. The authority is the mainstream press.
The press is using Google, and Google is parroting their thinking in answer.
The Nobel Peace Prize Committee awarded it to a Venezuelan peace activist today, and you know what she did?
Dedicated it to President Trump
- DC_Draino
[I saw this and had to check it out]
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The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2025 #NobelPeacePrize to Maria Corina Machado for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela
- The Nobel Prize
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This recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is a boost to conclude our task: to conquer Freedom.
I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!