Musk’s X found in breach of EU digital-content law
Summary
Elon Musk’s social-media platform X is in breach of the European Union’s online-content law, opening the company up to a large potential fine, according to a preliminary decision from the bloc’s executive arm.
Elon Musk’s social-media platform X is in breach of the European Union’s online-content law, opening the company up to a large potential fine, according to a preliminary decision from the bloc’s executive arm.
Friday’s decision from the European Commission follows a monthslong investigation into X, formerly known as Twitter, to assess whether it infringed the Digital Services Act, legislation that requires some of the world’s biggest online platforms to address illegal content and offer transparency around content moderation and advertising, among other rules.
The commission said it identified three grievances over X’s content practices, which could lead to a fine of up to 6% of the company’s total worldwide annual turnover. After Musk bought Twitter in 2022, he delisted the company and its financial performance data are no longer publicly available.
The commission found that X’s design and functioning of its blue checkmark feature is an illegal verification tool as anyone can pay to obtain the checkmark and gain verified status, which deceives users. The checkmarks were previously reserved for users that Twitter deemed authentic and notable, but are now tied to subscription accounts.
“It negatively affects users’ ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts and the content they interact with," the commission said.
It also found that X failed to comply with advertising transparency rules as it doesn’t provide proper access to the company’s store of advertisements. The commission argued that users can’t use X’s advertising repository to find advertisers and view details including creatives, targeting information and reach.
A third failing concerns the accessibility of public data to researchers, as the commission said X prohibits eligible researchers from independently accessing its public data.
The findings are preliminary and X now has the chance to respond. If the commission ultimately confirms its preliminary findings, the company could be subjected to an enhanced supervision period to ensure compliance and periodic penalty payments to compel the platform to comply.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com
