Europe gives TikTok 24 hours to respond about Israel-Hamas war misinformation, graphic content

European regulator Thierry Breton shared a stern letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Thursday, claiming his office has “indications” that the platform is being used to distribute disinformation and illegal content around the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Breton serves as the European commissioner for the internal market. He said TikTok must be “timely, diligent and objective” about removing misinformation, particularly since minors often turn to the platform as a source of news.

Breton issued similar letters to X owner Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week.

“First, given that your platform is extensively used by children and teenagers, you have a particular obligation to protect them from violent content depicting hostage taking and other graphic videos which are reportedly widely circulating on your platform, without appropriate safeguards,” Breton wrote in the letter.

  • dezmd@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1517·
    1 year ago

    “Think of the children” is the ultimate bullshit excuse when it comes to censorship by authoritarians, be they liberal, conservative, moderate, or anarchistic.

    • stolid_agnostic@lemmy.mlEnglish
      26·
      1 year ago

      horseshoe theory

      there are no liberal or conservative authoritarians. there is only one time of authoritarian even if they act like they either either liberal or conservative

      • dezmd@lemmy.worldEnglish
        41·
        1 year ago

        Authoritarian comes in many flavors, and they all have different paths they take that end up with the same result, consistently increasing oppression of personal freedoms in the name of various types of safety or morality or justice or ethics. Anyone can adopt authoritarian ideals if they get to comfortable repeating rhetoric without applying any thoughtful considerations.

      • BartsBigBugBag@lemmy.tfEnglish
        45·
        1 year ago

        Horseshoe theory is something for people who refuse to actually educate themselves on ideology. Often espoused by ignorant people who are so thoroughly de-politicized that they think they have no ideology, never noticing that that thought it itself is something only someone extremely ideologically captured would have.