EU launches formal investigation into X, formerly Twitter, over alleged levels of misinformation on platform in first probe under DSA. The European Commission has launched its first investigation under new digital content rules with a probe into a suspected failure by X, formerly Twitter, to fight against disinformation and content manipulation.
The inquiry, announced on Monday, is the first under the Digital Services Act, which received final approval last year and came into force this year, imposing strict rules on the largest online platforms.
Internal market commissioner Thierry Breton said the Commission suspected X of breaches of its transparency obligations and its duties to counter illegal content and disinformation.
Companies found in breach of the DSA face fines of up to 6 percent of their global annual revenues.
The formal proceedings are to focus on X's compliance with its duties to combat the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, the effectiveness of its steps to fight information manipulation and its transparency measures.
The probe into X's blue checks follow a repurposing of the marks, which formerly denoted authentic accounts used by high-profile users.
Under Elon Musk the meaning of the marks has shifted to identify paying subscribers to the X Premium service.
In mid-October, following Hamas' 7 October attacks on Israel, Breton sent formal letters to X, Meta and Tiktok reminding them of their DSA obligations to remove harmful and illegal content.
The platforms quickly responded to Breton, outlining the steps they had taken, but Musk also challenged Breton over the warning.
X was the only social media platform to be sent a further formal request for information under the DSA and has responded to the request.
The probe follows a separate complaint last week by privacy activist Max Schrems in which he alleged X violated EU GDPR rules by targeting ads based on people's political views and religious beliefs.
This Cyber News was published on www.silicon.co.uk. Publication date: Mon, 18 Dec 2023 15:13:18 +0000