South African billionaire Elon Musk denied on Thursday that he was considering shutting down social network X in Europe because of stricter regulations than in the United States and other parts of the world.

The specialized site Business Insider was the first to write on Thursday, citing a source who says he is aware of the situation, that Musk is unhappy with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA). The Digital Services Act obliges major online platforms to take consistent and swift action against hate speech, among other things.

“X”, formerly Twitter, recently received a list of questions from the European Commission, which wants to know more about how the social media platform fulfills its obligations. The Commission’s request comes after evidence that calls for violence and disinformation spread to X following a surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian extremist organization Hamas.

EU Commissioner Thierry Breton cited, among other things, reports of falsified video game footage and footage presented as real footage.

Violations of the DSA carry severe penalties. According to Business Insider, Musk discussed making the X unavailable in the EU or blocking access for users in the region.

“More [un articol] Business Insider is completely fake. They are not a real publication,” Elon Musk tweeted on Thursday.

X CEO Linda Jaccarino said Thursday that the social media platform had removed hundreds of accounts affiliated with Hamas and had taken steps to remove or tag tens of thousands of posts following the Hamas attack.

Warning sent by the EU to Elon Musk

The move came in response to Thierry Breton’s 24-hour ultimatum to Musk to combat the spread of misinformation on the platform to comply with new EU rules on online content.

“When you are notified of illegal content in the EU, you must act quickly, diligently and objectively and remove the content in question when justified,” a European official told the billionaire.

This obligation stems, in particular, from the new European Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force at the end of August for 19 major platforms.

Elon Musk himself drew a lot of criticism for encouraging his 160 million X followers to learn more about the conflict between Israel and Hamas by following two accounts known for spreading false information. The billionaire later deleted his post, but it was viewed millions of times.

Thierry Breton reminded the US company of its “very specific obligations” to moderate content, also according to the DSA.

“You should be very transparent and clear about the content allowed in the terms of use and apply your own policies consistently and diligently,” noted Thierry Breton.

Watch the latest developments in the conflict between Israel and Hamas LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO on Thursday.