On Friday, EU tech regulators found that Elon Musk’s social media business X violated EU online content laws, and its blue checkmark deceives consumers, which might result in a large punishment and major changes to its operations.
A seven-month investigation led to the European Commission’s first DSA accusations. Large internet platforms and search engines must do more to combat unlawful content and public security threats under the new guidelines.
The EU executive’s preliminary conclusions or allegations against X focused on the company’s dark patterns that influence user behavior, advertising transparency, and researcher data access.
X disagreed with the EU’s DSA compliance assessment, and Musk threatened litigation.
“We look forward to a very public battle in court so that the people of Europe can know the truth,” Musk told X.
He previously stated that the Commission had offered X an illegal hidden arrangement to control expression without alerting anyone, which the company rejected unlike other nameless platforms.
EU industry chief Thierry Breton responded.
“Be our guest,” he wrote on X. “No’secret pact’ has ever existed or will exist. With anyone. The DSA allows X and other large platforms to issue settlement promises.”
“You decide whether to commit. The rule of law works that way. See you (court or not),” Breton said.
The Commission claimed X’s blue-checked verified accounts violate industry practice and hinder users’ capacity to make informed decisions about account validity.
Musk updated the blue checkmark to represent a paid subscriber after buying Twitter in 2022. Before, it indicated a public figure whose identity was verified.
The panel also claimed X violated a DSA requirement to provide searchable and reliable library advertisement information for easy access.
X was also accused of restricting researcher access to its public data. The corporation has three months to reply to the charges and might be fined 6% of its global turnover for DSA violations.
“X has now the right of defence — but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines and require significant changes,” Breton said in a note.
