EU Warns Musk's X Spreading 'Illegal' Disinfo after Hamas Attack

An EU official said in a letter that concerns over X's moderation practices have heightened after the Hamas attack against Israel. JOEL SAGET / AFP
An EU official said in a letter that concerns over X's moderation practices have heightened after the Hamas attack against Israel. JOEL SAGET / AFP
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EU Warns Musk's X Spreading 'Illegal' Disinfo after Hamas Attack

An EU official said in a letter that concerns over X's moderation practices have heightened after the Hamas attack against Israel. JOEL SAGET / AFP
An EU official said in a letter that concerns over X's moderation practices have heightened after the Hamas attack against Israel. JOEL SAGET / AFP

The EU's digital chief Thierry Breton warned Elon Musk on Tuesday that his platform X, formerly Twitter, is spreading "illegal content and disinformation", in a letter seen by AFP.

The letter said concerns had heightened after the Hamas attack against Israel, and demanded Musk respond to the complaint within 24 hours and contact "relevant law enforcement authorities".

As the European Union's commissioner for industry and the digital economy, Breton is charged with regulating internet giants that trade within the bloc, and can launch legal action.

"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," Breton wrote.

Breton reminded Musk that EU law sets tough rules on moderating content, "especially when it comes to violent and terrorist content that appears to circulate on your platform".

He asked that X respond to his complaint within 24 hours and also get in touch with Europol, the EU police coordinating agency.

"We will include your answer in our assessment file on your compliance with the DSA," Breton said, referring to the new EU Digital Services Act, which regulates online platforms.

"I remind you that following the opening of a potential investigation and a finding of non-compliance, penalties can be imposed," it said.

Musk, responding later on X to a user who had posted the letter, invited Breton to "please list the violations you allude to".

"Our policy is that everything is open source and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports," Musk wrote.

Hate and violence

Brussels has previously complained that, among the large-scale internet platforms that fall under the DSA remit, Musk's Twitter now rebranded X spreads the biggest proportion of disinformation.

In August, when the new law came into effect, Musk replied to a post by Breton promising that the platform was "working hard" to comply, but there have been more warning signs.

While the rules were still voluntary, the firm pulled out of an oversight group, and Musk -- a self-styled "free speech absolutist" -- has been dismissive of criticism in his personal posts.

In September, the billionaire tech mogul boasted that he had cut half of its global team dedicated to monitoring and limiting disinformation and fraud around major elections.

Since Saturday's shock attack on Israeli communities by the Hamas group, web platforms have been swamped by posts containing fake or misrepresented reports and footage.

While the confirmed death toll in the renewed war has now passed 3,000 -- unconfirmed, exaggerated or false reports of atrocities have also proliferated.

Experts fear these moves have increased the risk of misinformation provoking real-world harm, amplifying hate and violence.



Beijing to Release Manus, DeepSeek’s Next Generation

The DeepSeek logo is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
The DeepSeek logo is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
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Beijing to Release Manus, DeepSeek’s Next Generation

The DeepSeek logo is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
The DeepSeek logo is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2025. (Reuters)

Chinese artificial intelligence startup Manus on Thursday registered its China-facing AI assistant and was featured for the first time in a state media broadcast, highlighting Beijing's strategy of boosting domestic AI firms that have received overseas recognition.

Since China's DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley by releasing AI models comparable to its US competitors but developed at a fraction of the cost, Chinese investors have been on the lookout for the next domestic startup with the potential to upend the global tech order.

Some have pointed to Manus. The company went viral on X a few weeks ago by releasing what it claimed to be the world's first general AI agent, capable of making decisions and executing tasks autonomously, with much less prompting required compared to AI chatbots like ChatGPT and DeepSeek.

Beijing is now showing signs that it will support Manus' rollout within China, echoing its response to DeepSeek’s success. State broadcaster CCTV on Thursday devoted television coverage to Manus for the first time, publishing a video on the difference between its AI agent and DeepSeek's AI chatbot.

Beijing's municipal government on Thursday announced that a Chinese version of an earlier Manus product, an AI assistant called Monica, had completed the registration required for generative AI apps in China, clearing an important regulatory hurdle.

Chinese regulators require all generative AI applications released in the country to abide by strict rules, partly designed to ensure these products do not generate content considered sensitive or damaging by Beijing.

Last week Manus announced a strategic partnership with the team behind tech giant Alibaba's Qwen AI models.

The move could bolster the domestic roll-out of Manus' AI agent, which is currently only available to users with invite codes and has a waiting list of 2 million, according to the startup.

In the markets, Hong Kong and China stocks declined on Friday and registered weekly losses, as tech shares tumbled on mounting profit-taking pressure.

The Hang Seng Tech Index slid 3.4% on Friday, and Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 2.1%. Both indexes registered back-to-back weekly losses for the first time since January.

In Hong Kong, chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation slid 7.5% to a one-month low, while market heavyweight Alibaba lost 3.5%.

China's blue-chip CSI300 index dipped 1.5%, ending the week with a 2.3% loss in its largest retreat since January. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.3%.

The tech sector also paced declines onshore. Mainland's tech-focused Star 50 Index dropped 2.1% and AI-related shares slipped 3%.

"It's normal to see some pullbacks at these levels after such a strong rally this year - this doesn't even qualify as a correction," said Dickie Wong, Kingston Securities executive director.

The optimism around China's “two sessions,” DeepSeek and President Xi Jinping's meeting with tech leaders has already been priced in with major indexes at current levels, prompting investors to take profit, he added.

The Hang Seng Tech index has lost 4.1% this week in a second week of decline - the longest losing streak since the opening weeks of the year.

However, the gauge is still up 26% year-to-date.