(BRUSSELS) – The EU Commission formally sent Meta a request for information under the Digital Services Act Thursday on measures it has taken to prevent disinformation over Hamas terrorist attacks across Israel.
American multinational Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp and is designated as a ‘very large online platforms‘ under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
This means it has to comply with obligations related to risk assessments and mitigation measures to protect the integrity of elections and following the terrorist attacks across Israel by Hamas, in particular with regard to the dissemination and amplification of illegal content and disinformation.
Meta now needs to provide the requested information to the Commission by 25 October for questions related to the crisis response and by 8 November 2023 on the protection of the integrity of elections.
Based on the assessment of Meta’s replies, the Commission will assess its next steps – which could entail the formal opening of proceedings pursuant to Article 66 of the DSA.
Pursuant to Article 74 (2) of the DSA, the Commission can impose fines for incorrect, incomplete or misleading information in response to a request for information.
In case of failure to reply by Meta, the Commission may decide to request the information by decision. In this case, failure to reply by the deadline could lead to the imposition of periodic penalty payments.
Following their designation as Very Large Online Platforms, Facebook and Instagram are required to comply with the full set of provisions introduced by the DSA, including the assessment and mitigation of risks related to the dissemination of illegal content, disinformation, and any negative effects on the exercise of fundamental rights.
