EU Charges Elon Musk’s X with Breaching Online-Content Law
The European Union has charged Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, with violating its online-content law, potentially subjecting the company to a significant fine.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, announced its decision following a months-long investigation into X, formerly known as Twitter. The probe aimed to determine whether the platform violated the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The Commission highlighted three primary issues with X’s content practices, which could result in a fine of up to 6% of the company’s global annual revenue. Since Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 and took it private, the company’s financial details are no longer publicly disclosed, complicating the calculation of any potential fine.
The Commission’s preliminary findings pointed to the design and operation of X’s blue checkmark feature as an illegal verification tool. Unlike the previous system where checkmarks were reserved for authentic and notable users, the new system allows anyone to pay for the verification, potentially misleading users. The Commission stated, “It negatively affects users’ ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts and the content they interact with.”
Additionally, X was found to have failed in adhering to transparency rules related to advertising and providing adequate access to its public data for researchers.
In response, Elon Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino defended the platform. Yaccarino posted on X, “A democratized system, allowing everyone across Europe to access verification, is better than just the privileged few being verified. We stand with everyone on X and in Europe who believes in the open flow of information and supports innovation.”
The Digital Services Act, introduced last year, mandates large online platforms to address illegal content and ensure transparency in content moderation and advertising, among other requirements.
The EU’s investigation into X’s efforts to counter illegal content and combat disinformation is ongoing. Investigators are scrutinizing the effectiveness of X’s Community Notes feature, which allows volunteers to add context to posts to enhance the reliability of information.
X is not the only platform under the EU’s scrutiny. Other social media giants, classified as very large online platforms with at least 45 million average active users in the EU, are also being investigated. The EU is examining TikTok for potential DSA breaches concerning minors’ protection, advertising transparency, data access for researchers, and risk management of addictive design and harmful content. TikTok is also under a separate probe regarding a new product that rewards users for completing certain tasks.
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is being investigated for possible violations related to minors’ protection, advertising, and political content. AliExpress is also under investigation over various risk and transparency issues.
These investigations highlight the EU’s commitment to enforcing the Digital Services Act and ensuring compliance among the world’s largest online platforms.