Goli Innocent 
The European Union (EU) has launched an investigation into Facebook’s parent company, Meta and TikTok requesting further information on the steps taken by both companies to curb the dissemination of “illegal content and disinformation” following the Israeli strike by Hamas.
In the first action under the EU’s new regulation on digital material, the European Commission announced that it has made official requests for information to Meta and TikTok, respectively.
A comparable investigation into the social media network X, formerly known as Twitter, run by billionaire investor Elon Musk was started by the EU last week.
The request from the commission to Meta was allegedly related “to the dissemination and amplification of illegal content and disinformation” concerning the war between Israel and Hamas.
It stated that it was interested in learning more about TikTok’s attempts to stop “the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech” in a different statement.
Furthermore, the executive branch of the EU stated that it was in need of further details from Meta regarding its “mitigation measures to protect the integrity of elections”.
The commission said it also sought more details about how TikTok was complying with rules on protecting minors online.
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The European Union has built a powerful armoury to challenge the power of big tech with its landmark Digital Services Act (DSA) and a sister law, the Digital Markets Act, that hits internet giants with tough new curbs on how they do business.
The EU’s fight against disinformation has intensified since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year and Russian attempts to sway European public opinion.
The issue has gained further urgency after Hamas’ assault on October 7 on Israel and the aftermath which sparked a wave of violent images that flooded the platforms.
The DSA came into effect for “very large” platforms, including Meta and TikTok, that have more than 45 million monthly European users in August.
The DSA bans illegal online content under threat of fines running as high as six per cent of a company’s global turnover.
The EU’s top tech enforcer, Thierry Breton, sent warning letters to tech CEOs including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew and Sundar Pichai of YouTube owner Alphabet.
Growing EU fears Breton, EU internal market commissioner, told the executives to crack down on illegal content following Hamas’ attack.
Meta said last week that it was putting special resources towards cracking down on illegal and problematic content related to the Hamas-Israel conflict.
On Wednesday, Breton expressed his fears over the impact of disinformation on the EU.”The widespread dissemination of illegal content and disinformation… carries a clear risk of stigmatisation of certain communities, destabilisation of our democratic structures, not to mention the exposure of our children to violent content,” he said.
AFP fact-checkers have found several posts on Facebook, TikTok and X promoting a fake White House document purporting to allocate $8 billion in military assistance to Israel.
And several platforms have had users passing off material from other conflicts, or even from video games, as footage from Israel or Gaza.
Since the EU’s tougher action on digital behemoths, some companies, including Meta, are exploring whether to offer a paid-for version of their services in the European Union.
