Mark Zuckerberg Given 24-Hour Deadline to Detail Plan for Hamas-Israel Misinfo

One day after ordering Elon Musk to take down the disinformation connected to the Israel-Hamas War on X, a top European lawmaker has turned his sights to Meta and Mark Zuckerberg, telling the CEO that it was important to be “very vigilant” and follow European Union law on content moderation.

EU Commissioner Thierry Breton told Zuckerberg he had 24 hours to detail what Meta was doing to address disinformation on its platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, according to Reuters. 

At the center of the exchange between Breton and Zuckerberg is Europe’s new Digital Services Act, legislation meant to force social media platforms to better police their sites.   

The EU could levy fines if Meta and X companies don’t follow the Digital Services Act — and perhaps even block the sites within Europe, a major market for both.

Meta said it had already established a "special operations center" to handle content related to the crisis, a group that includes Hebrew and Arabic speakers. (The company has been previously critiqued for its limited foreign-language resources despite its wide global reach.) "Our teams are working around the clock," a spokesperson said.

Musk quickly fought back against a similar warning from Breton, insisting that the commissioner publicly list and explain how X, which was formerly known as Twitter, had violated the EU rules. “We take our actions in the open. No backroom deals. Please post your concerns explicitly on this platform,” Musk wrote on X Wednesday morning.