Current:Home > StocksEuropean Commission accuses Elon Musk's X platform of violating EU Digital Services Act -FundGuru
European Commission accuses Elon Musk's X platform of violating EU Digital Services Act
View
Date:2025-04-13 14:38:20
London — The European Union said Friday that blue checkmarks from Elon Musk's X are deceptive and that the online platform falls short on transparency and accountability requirements, in the first charges against a tech company since the bloc's new social media regulations took effect.
The European Commission outlined the preliminary findings from its investigation into X, formerly known as Twitter, under the 27-nation bloc's Digital Services Act.
The rulebook, also known as the DSA, is a sweeping set of regulations that requires platforms to take more responsibility for protecting their European users and cleaning up harmful or illegal content and products on their sites, under threat of hefty fines.
Regulators took aim at X's blue checks, saying they constitute "dark patterns" that are not in line with industry best practice and can be used by malicious actors to deceive users.
Before Musk's acquisition, the checkmarks mirrored verification badges common on social media and were largely reserved for celebrities, politicians and other influential accounts. After Musk bought the site in 2022, it started issuing them to anyone who paid $8 per month for one.
"Since anyone can subscribe to obtain such a 'verified" status' 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.
An email request for comment to X resulted in an automated response that said "Busy now, please check back later." Its main spokesman reportedly left the company in June.
"Back in the day, BlueChecks used to mean trustworthy sources of information," European Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a statement. "Now with X, our preliminary view is that they deceive users and infringe the DSA."
The commission also charged X with failing to comply with ad transparency rules. Under the DSA, platforms must publish a database of all digital advertisements that they've carried, with details such as who paid for them and the intended audience.
But X's ad database isn't "searchable and reliable" and has "design features and access barriers" that make it "unfit for its transparency purpose," the commission said. The database's design in particular hinders researchers from looking into "emerging risks" from online ads, it said.
The company also falls short when it comes to giving researchers access to public data, the commission said. The DSA imposes the provisions so that researchers can scrutinize how platforms work and how online risks evolve.
But researchers can't independently access data by scraping it from the site, while the process to request access from the company through an interface "appears to dissuade researchers" from carrying out their projects or gives them no choice but to pay high fees, it said.
X now has a chance to respond to the accusations and make changes to comply, which would be legally binding. If the commission isn't satisfied, it can levy penalties worth up to 6% of the company's annual global revenue and order it to fix the problem.
The findings are only a part of the investigation. Regulators are still looking into whether X is failing to do enough to curb the spread of illegal content — such as hate speech or incitement of terrorism — and the effectiveness of measures to combat "information manipulation," especially through its crowd-sourced Community Notes fact-checking feature.
TikTok, e-commerce site AliExpress and Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms are also facing ongoing DSA investigations.
- In:
- Elon Musk
- Social Media
- European Union
- Data Privacy
veryGood! (4)
Related
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Robert Towne, legendary Hollywood screenwriter of Chinatown, dies at 89
- Christian McCaffrey Slams Evil Influencer for Criticizing Olivia Culpo's Wedding Dress
- Maine attorney general announces resource center to aid local opioid settlement spending
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and More of Kris Jenner's Kids React After Her Tumor Diagnosis
- Italian appeals court reduces sentences for 2 Americans convicted of killing policeman
- Parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue to buy rival Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion,
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- Biden awards Medal of Honor to 2 Union soldiers who hijacked train behind enemy lines
Ranking
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Oklahoma State football's million-dollar strength coach, Rob Glass, gets raise
- Saks Fifth Avenue owner and Amazon to buy Neiman Marcus in $2.65 billion deal
- Early Amazon Prime Day Deals 2024: Shop the Best Travel Deals for Easy Breezy Trips
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- England's Jude Bellingham was a hero long before his spectacular kick in Euro 2024
- Avian flu confirmed in a Colorado farmworker, marking fourth human case in U.S. since March
- Nathan’s Famous Independence Day hot dog contest set for NYC — minus its usual muncher
Recommendation
Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
Italian Air Force precision team flies over Vegas Strip, headed to July 4 in Los Angeles area
Jason Derulo Recalls Near-Death Experience After Breaking His Neck in the Gym
Microsoft will pay $14M to settle allegations it discriminated against employees who took leave
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
When is the Part 1 finale of 'Power Book II: Ghost' Season 4? Date, time, cast, where to watch
Tom Hanks’ Son Chet Hanks Clarifies Intentions of “White Boy Summer”
Flight to New Hampshire diverted after man exposes himself, federal officials say