BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Union announced probes Thursday into Facebook owner Meta and TikTok, seeking more details on the measures they have taken to stop the spread of "illegal content and disinformation" around the Hamas-Israel conflict.
The commission said it had sent formal requests for information to Meta and TikTok respectively in what is a first procedure launched under the EU's new law on digital content, after a similar probe launched into X, formerly known as Twitter, last week. Last week, X stripped headlines from news articles shared by users, with links now appearing only as pictures, a move that experts say could further reduce traffic to news sites.
Musk himself courted harsh criticism when he encouraged his nearly 160 million followers on X to follow two "good" accounts for updates on the war. Both accounts are known purveyors of misinformation.