EU warns online platforms against livestreaming US execution of Nidal Hasan

The EU warning

The European Union warned online platforms on Monday, 12 October, against livestreaming the execution of Nidal Hasan, a former US Army psychiatrist scheduled to be executed by firing squad on 3 December. Hasan, now 56, was sentenced to death in 2013 for a 2009 attack at a military base in Texas that killed 13 people. A Pentagon official said the execution would be broadcast live, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth initially confirmed that information. Washington later became less firm on the point, and President Donald Trump has left it uncertain whether the execution will be publicly broadcast. According to the report, the US Army will use a firing squad to carry out the sentence, the first time since the end of the Second World War that it has done so.

Platform rules under EU law

Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said that under EU rules, platforms must enforce their own terms and conditions diligently. He pointed to existing policies: Meta explicitly forbids livestreaming capital punishment, while X and TikTok both forbid shocking content and content that glorifies violence. Regnier declined to comment on what platforms do in the United States. Instead he said:

No comment on what they do in the US but in Europe, we have clear obligations.

The bloc's Digital Services Act, which among other things covers the fight against illegal online content, is the framework he pointed to for Europe.

Enforcement under the Digital Services Act

Regnier said that if platforms did not enforce their own terms, Europe would use the powers it has under the Digital Services Act (DSA). A Commission spokesperson said the EU has the legal basis to apply sanctions in cases of non-compliance. Regnier was direct about the consequence for companies operating in Europe:

So we will definitely make sure that companies and online platforms comply with these obligations here in Europe.

The Trump administration has repeatedly criticised the DSA, accusing the law of being a tool of "foreign censorship". The EU denies those accusations.

Timeline of the case

The key dates run from the 2009 attack to the execution date set for 3 December. Hasan's death sentence was handed down in 2013, and the EU warning came on 12 October 2026, before the scheduled execution. Whether the broadcast goes ahead remains unclear, since the live-broadcast claim was first confirmed by the Pentagon side and later left open by Washington.