(Brussels) The European Commission has asked its services to suspend their advertising campaigns on X due to the “alarming increase in disinformation and hate speech”, a spokesperson said on Friday.
“We have seen an alarming rise in misinformation and hate speech on several social networks in recent weeks, and this of course concerns X,” said spokesperson Johannes Bahrke.
“We therefore recommended that services refrain from carrying out advertising campaigns” on the platform, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, he added.
This decision does not call into question the presence of European Commission services on X, the spokesperson clarified.
Since Elon Musk bought Twitter at the end of October 2022 before changing its name, the platform has relaxed its rules on misinformation, reduced its content moderation teams and allowed the return of many controversial personalities.
The European executive opened an investigation in October targeting this social network for the alleged dissemination of “false information”, “violent and terrorist content” and “hate speech” in the context of the war between Israel and Hamas. This approach is part of the application of the new legislation on digital services (DSA), imposing reinforced obligations on platforms.
The Commission’s instruction to suspend all advertising on ‘a draft legislation.
This campaign is accused of having used microtargeting techniques based on the political and religious opinions of the people targeted, in violation of European rules on personal data.
An Austrian association campaigning for the protection of privacy, Noyb, filed a complaint against the European Commission on Thursday with the European Data Protection Supervisor, on behalf of a Dutch Internet user who received one of the messages from the services of the EU. The NGO is calling for a thorough investigation and the imposition of a fine.
