Europe Registers Initial Complaints under DSA against Elon Musk’s X

The entity formerly known as Twitter is now distinguished as the first “Very Large Online Platform” (VLOP) identified tentatively for breaching the European Union’s stringent Digital Services Act (DSA), which serves as the framework for governance and content oversight. Violations of this framework could incur fines up to 6% of the entity’s global yearly revenue.

In December 2023, the Commission initiated a probe into X, expressing concerns that it might have failed to comply with DSA mandates relating to risk handling, moderation activities, deceptive designs, transparency in advertisements, and access to data for academic inquiry. By May, it requested further details from the firm regarding the ongoing investigation.

The investigation has now yielded initial findings concerning three key issues.

Initially, it recognized that X’s blue verification mark employs a deceptive design, a practice forbidden under the DSA. This mark, which was once a symbol of verified identity, has been obscured under the ownership of Elon Musk. The new scheme, which suggests paid or notable profiles without clear verification, is deemed potentially misleading by suggesting unearned credibility. Furthermore, the platform’s algorithms give priority to responses from these marked accounts, amplifying the deception risk.

The second point of contention pertains to X’s advertising database, which, according to the Commission, falls short of DSA’s transparency prerequisites. The archive’s technical setup fails to provide comprehensive and reliable ad data, obstructing any investigative efforts into the advertisement ecosystem on X’s network.

The third concern addresses X’s failure to grant researchers adequate access to its data. Despite establishing a rudimentary access system in November 2023, post the DSA compliance deadline in August, the implementation was criticized for its inadequacies. The Commission highlighted the protracted, opaque U.S. screening process that European researchers must endure, which lacks feedback and has resulted in minimal approvals.

A principal aim of the DSA is to foster accountability among tech giants via enhanced transparency. The Commission’s preliminary findings against X, therefore, underscore areas where it perceives obstacles to this objective.

The EU is proceeding with further investigations into X, focusing on the dissemination of illicit content and misinformation.

Margrethe Vestager, the Commission EVP responsible for digital policy, commented, “At its heart, the DSA champions transparency, and our commitment remains firm in ensuring all platforms, X included, adhere to EU laws.”

X has been approached to provide their standpoint.

X now has an opportunity to address the Commission’s findings. Depending on its response, the outcome of this scrutiny could vary—from convincing the EU of compliance, proposing corrective measures, to facing enforcement actions for rule violations. Hence, the upcoming months promise significant developments for Musk’s tenure.