Brussels, July 12, 2024, The Europe Today: The European Commission announced on Friday that preliminary findings indicate Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), is in violation of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The Commission’s initial assessment highlights issues related to dark patterns, advertising transparency, and data access for researchers.
Key Findings
In a detailed statement, the Commission outlined three major areas of concern:
- X Blue Badge System: Under Musk’s ownership, the blue badge system now allows any user to obtain verification with a premium subscription. The Commission criticized this change, stating that the interface for verified accounts and the blue checkmark system “does not correspond to industry practice and deceives users.” European Commissioner Thierry Breton remarked, “Back in the day, Blue Checks used to mean trustworthy sources of information. Now with X, our preliminary view is that they deceive users and infringe the DSA.”
- Advertising Transparency: The Commission noted that X has failed to comply with the required transparency on advertising. The platform does not provide a searchable and reliable advertisement repository, which is a stipulation under the DSA.
- Data Access for Researchers: The third concern is X’s failure to provide access to its public data for researchers. The DSA mandates that platforms must allow eligible researchers to independently access public data, which X prohibits as per its terms of service.
Opportunity for Response
The Commission emphasized that these findings are preliminary. X will have the opportunity to exercise its right of defense by examining the documents in the investigation file and responding in writing. Should these preliminary findings be confirmed, a “non-compliance decision” would be adopted, potentially leading to fines up to 6% of X’s worldwide turnover.
This marks the first instance of the Commission publishing preliminary findings under the DSA, underscoring the significance of the case.
