Israel to regulate social media firms to rein in illegal content

Israel said on Wednesday it plans to regulate social media companies such as TikTok, YouTube, Meta's Facebook and Twitter, following in the steps of the European Union in tackling illegal and offensive online content.

Outgoing Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel said he would place responsibility on social media firms to deal with offensive and illegal content, while creating more transparency toward users and establishing a regulator to supervise companies. The regulations would apply to platforms with more than 500,000 users in Israel, 5% of the country's population.