EC Charges Elon Musk’s X For Disinfo

The European Union's European Commission (EC), is calling Elon Musk to Order, over how He turned Social Media site X into a haven for Disinformation and Illegal Content. In its Preliminary Findings, the Commission said X’s Platform Blue Checks, had Misled Users into thinking some Content was Trustworthy when it wasn’t necessarily.

The EC said X’s Blue Checks Policy was Deceiving, and had been Abused by Malicious Actors. The Checks were initially Created as as way to Verify Users, like Government Officials, Public Figures, and Journalists, in efforts to Limit Misinformation.

But Musk Changed that Policy, allowing Users to Buy Blue Check Accounts. The New Policy has been Abused by Fraudsters to impersonate U.S. Politician Hillary Clinton, and Author J.K. Rowling, among many other Celebrities.

X will have an Opportunity to respond in Writing. If the Preliminary Finding is Uupheld, the EC said it would adopt a Non-Compliance Decision that "could entail fines of up to 6% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the provider, and order the provider to take measures to address the breach."

A Non-Compliance Decision may also "trigger an enhanced supervision period to ensure compliance with the measures the provider intends to take to remedy the breach," and "periodic penalty payments to compel a platform to comply." X is allowed to "exercise its rights of defense by examining the documents in the Commission's investigation file and by replying in writing to the Commission's preliminary findings," the Announcement said.

As for the Second alleged Violation, the EC said that "X does not comply with the required transparency on advertising, as it does not provide a searchable and reliable advertisement repository, but instead put in place design features and access barriers that make the repository unfit for its transparency purpose towards users. In particular, the design does not allow for the required supervision and research into emerging risks brought about by the distribution of advertising online."

Thirdly, the Commission said it Found that "X fails to provide access to its public data to researchers in line with the conditions set out in the Digital Services Act (DSA). In particular, X prohibits eligible researchers from independently accessing its public data, such as by scraping, as stated in its terms of service. In addition, X's process to grant eligible researchers access to its application programming interface (API) appears to dissuade researchers from carrying out their research projects or leave them with no other choice than to pay disproportionately high fees."

In December 2023, the EC announced that Musk's X Platform was subject to the First Formal Investigation into possible DSA Violations. X said at the time that it "remains committed to complying with the DSA and is cooperating with the regulatory process. It is important that this process remains free of political influence and follows the law."

With Today's Announcement, X is the First Company to face Preliminary Findings of DSA Non-Compliance.

"The DSA has transparency at its very core, and we are determined to ensure that all platforms, including X, comply with EU legislation," said EC Competition Official Margrethe Vestager.









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