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.
I’m sure some people are too lazy and comment before reading, but I think there’s a more frightening possibility. That they have read the article, but still post these comments.
There’s research that suggests increasing numbers of people can’t read that well anymore. Sure, they can read and write, but they’re unable to concentrate long enough to read a longer article and easily gloss over seemingly unimportant details.
I don’t know if it’s education, covid brain fog, or perhaps too much time spent on a phone, but if this is the case it’s a genuine worry. If people zone out when reading an article, they’re far easier to manipulate and more likely to be easily influenced by disinformation.