European Commission: Musk’s X has become a hotbed of disinformation

Musk’s X is cited as the largest source of disinformation as the European Union calls on Silicon Valley platforms to increase their vigilance in combating Russia’s ‘disinformation war’. European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova stated that platforms must act before national and European elections next year.

– This is a weapon of mass manipulation worth millions of euros, aimed at both Russians and Europeans and the rest of the world – Jourova said on Tuesday, emphasizing that large platforms must address this risk especially since the Kremlin is expected to be extremely active ahead of the European elections.

The European Union has published reports on how each of the major tech companies, including Meta, Alphabet, and ByteDance, is coping with the fight against disinformation.

Most major platforms have agreed to cooperate with the European Union on a voluntary code of conduct aimed at setting sectoral standards for fact-checking and other measures. The bloc has also conducted a pilot project to assess the scale of the problem.

– X, formerly Twitter, is the platform with the highest ratio of false or disinformation posts. It has been revealed that users spreading disinformation have more followers than those who do not spread disinformation, and they have recently joined the platform – Jourova explained, highlighting several steps that platforms have taken in the fight against Russian influence.

Google has removed over 500 channels involved in Russian influence operations in the first four months of this year, and Meta has expanded its fact-checking partnerships to 22 languages of the European Union. Additionally, the Digital Services Act came into force last month.

– Since Twitter is designated as a very large online platform, there are indeed obligations imposed by strict law. Therefore, my message to Twitter is that they must comply with strict laws because we are monitoring what they do – Jourova stated.

The European Commission Vice-President also mentioned that the influx of Russian disinformation is particularly relevant in Slovakia, where elections are taking place this week.

– Slovakia has been chosen as a country where there is fertile ground for the success of Russian pro-war narratives – she said, adding that Facebook and Google have taken some steps to increase their efforts in this country.