EU tells Elon Musk to tackle disinformation on X

The news: European Union industry chief Thierry Breton has told Elon Musk to tackle the spread of disinformation on Twitter, now rebranded X, to comply with new EU online content rules.

The numbers: Failure to comply with the online content rules, known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), can result in EU fines of as much as 6% of a company's global turnover.

The context: Breton told Musk in a letter he had indications that the social media platform was being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the European Union, particularly since Palestinian Islamist group Hamas' surprise attack on Israel. Musk responded to Breton saying his company's policy was that everything is open source and transparent and asked him to list the violations. Breton has not provided details on the disinformation but said in his letter that Musk is well aware of his users' — and authorities'— reports on fake content and glorification of violence. He asked Musk to ensure an accurate and complete response within the next 24 hours.