Social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) announced that it has taken significant action against accounts affiliated with Palestinian terror group Hamas to combat the spread of “terrorist content” on its platform.
CEO Linda Yaccarino of X stated on Thursday that the platform has removed numerous accounts that violate its “Violent and Hateful Entities Policy,” which aims to prevent the proliferation of terrorist content. X has also addressed and eliminated posts containing graphic media, violent content, and hate speech.
This announcement was made in response to an order from European Union Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, asking Elon Musk, the owner of X, to outline the platform’s approach to tackling misinformation.
“There is no place on X for terrorist organizations or violent extremist groups, and we continue to proactively remove such accounts in real time,” said Yaccarino in a letter to Breton.
X’s safety account reported on Monday that posts from daily active users in Israel had increased following Hamas’ surprise attack on the country over the weekend. X stated that users shared more than 50 million posts related to the attack, some of which contained misinformation or graphic footage. This led to the spread of misinformation not only on X but also throughout the internet.
X also mentioned its active monitoring of the platform for antisemitic speech and its coordination with other social media platforms through the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) to combat the spread of terrorist content online.
GIFCT stated in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, “In this rapidly evolving situation, we continue to work with our members to identify and follow trends in content and activity online related to terrorist and violent extremist actors involved in the offline violence.”
A spokesperson for X has not yet responded to CBS MoneyWatch’s request for comment.
Some of the posts under scrutiny on X violate the platform’s policies and include old video footage falsely alleging to show images from Hamas’ current attack. X has flagged these posts for presenting media “out of context.”
Studies have shown that hate speech increased on X after Elon Musk terminated content moderators.
Dina Sadek, a Middle East research fellow at Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, expressed concerns about misinformation surrounding the Hamas attack and how it could fuel hate speech and incite further violence.
In response to the assault, Israel reported more than 1,200 deaths and over 3,000 injuries, while Israeli airstrikes on Hamas-run Gaza have resulted in over 1,200 casualties, including hundreds of children, according to health officials in the region.
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