(Brussels) Brussels warned Meta (Facebook, Instagram) on Wednesday concerning a resurgence of false information and summoned its boss, Mark Zuckerberg, to communicate its measures to remedy it, the day after a similar warning to Twitter).
This warning concerns publications “following the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, and disinformation in the context of the elections in the EU”, before the legislative elections in Poland on Sunday and a European vote next spring, explained the European Commissioner for Numérique, Thierry Breton, in a message on Bluesky, rival of X.
“We have become aware of reports of a significant number of “deep fakes” and manipulated content that have circulated on your platforms and some of which still appear online,” the commissioner wrote, in a letter to Mr. . Zuckerberg, also posted on Bluesky.
A Meta spokesperson responded that after the Hamas attack the group “quickly set up a special operations center staffed by experts, including people fluent in Hebrew and Arabic, to closely monitor and respond to this very volatile situation.”
These teams ensure compliance with “our policies or local law” and coordinate with fact-checkers to combat misinformation, the spokesperson said, adding: “We will continue this work as it develops. evolution of the conflict.
As he had done the day before for Elon Musk, the boss of in force at the end of August.
Humiliating videos of hostages, decapitated bodies, filmed assassination… Social networks have been flooded with violent images, but also with attempts at disinformation, since the attacks carried out on Saturday morning by Hamas, a challenge for all platforms.
But X’s situation seems more problematic. Brussels was concerned at the end of September about the rate of misinformation on X, pointing out its poor results compared to competing networks during tests.
After his takeover of Twitter last year, Elon Musk carried out a massive wave of layoffs which decimated his moderation teams. The billionaire regularly reaffirms his vision of freedom of expression, refusing any “censorship”, even if he ensures that the platform respects the laws of each country on the subject.
German Digital Minister Volker Wissing, for his part, launched “a call to Elon Musk and all operators to delete accounts that glorify terror, call for the destruction of Israel and violence against Jews.” . “Stop the broadcast of barbaric videos and inflammatory false information,” he demanded.
Like a snub to Elon Musk, Thierry Breton announced Wednesday morning his arrival on the rival social network Bluesky.
He suggested through a play on words that Bluesky (“Blue Sky”) could be more virtuous. ” Good morning ! Even if the grass is not (always) greener on the other side, the sky is sometimes… bluer. Keep in touch ! “, he wrote in a message on X, accompanied by an image of his Bluesky profile.
“It feels like there are fewer people — but it’s more human — without all these robots,” he later posted.
This new network was created by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Already very popular in Silicon Valley, it is still in the development phase and is only accessible by invitation.
Bluesky visually and practically resembles Twitter, because its designers want defectors not to be disoriented.
Thierry Breton threatened the social network
“Following the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, we have indications that your platform is being used to spread illegal content and disinformation in the EU,” he wrote.
An exchange between the two officials followed. “Our policy is that everything is open and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports,” the billionaire responded directly to X, a few hours later.
“Please list the violations you are referring to on X, so the public can see them,” he added.
“You are well aware of the reports from your users – and from the authorities – about false content and the glorification of violence. It’s up to you to show that you are putting your words into action,” replied the European Commissioner.
Musk replied, still on X: “No backroom deals. Please raise your concerns explicitly on this platform.” He replied to another user: “I still don’t know what they’re talking about! » .
