Verified accounts on X, formerly Twitter, are deceiving users, according to preliminary findings by the European Union that could lead to steep fines for Elon Musk’s firm.
The bloc’s executive branch, the European Commission, has found X in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA), a sweeping set of illegal content laws introduced last November.
In the first ruling of its kind under the DSA, the EC found that X uses “dark patterns” to “mislead users”, doesn’t provide an adequate advertising repository, and blocks access to data for researchers.
X now has the right to respond and defend itself against the preliminary findings before any concrete rulings or penalties are imposed. The latter could include fines of up to six per cent of X's total worldwide annual turnover, which was estimated to be around $3.4bn (£2.62bn) in 2023.
Since taking over Twitter in October 2022, Musk has faced a string of controversies, including around his treatment of staff and mass job cuts at the firm, and the site’s changing approach to moderation.
One of the most controversial changes wrought by Musk has been to X’s user-verification system. Originally a way of signaling a prominent account’s authenticity, X has allowed anyone to purchase a blue checkmark for a monthly fee since last April.
Back in the day, #BlueChecks used to mean trustworthy sources of information✔️🐦
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) July 12, 2024
Now with X, our preliminary view is that:
❌They deceive users
❌They infrige #DSA
X has now the right of defence —but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines & require significant changes. pic.twitter.com/M9tGA5pYQr
As part of the change, the platform removed "legacy" blue checkmarks from accounts that were previously verified under the old system, including journalists and celebs, prompting a massive outcry from impacted users.
Initially, the new system led to numerous impersonation problems, with fake accounts posing as notable individuals and organisations.
The EU isn’t a fan of the update either, and could force X to change it. By opening up blue ticks to anyone willing to pay, X has made it harder for users to make “free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts and the content they interact with,” the EC said.
It also found that the verification method can be linked to “dark patterns” that can be used by malicious actors to trick and mislead users.
The European Commission offered 𝕏 an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2024
The other platforms accepted that deal.
𝕏 did not. https://t.co/4lKsaRsYoA
“Back in the day, Blue Checks used to mean trustworthy sources of information,” EU commissioner Thierry Breton said in a post on X.
“Now with X, our preliminary view is that: they deceive users; they infringe DSA. X has now the right of defence – but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines and require significant changes.”
Musk has fired back at the EU and set the stage for a legal battle between X and the EC over DSA compliance. In a series of posts to X, the Tesla and SpaceX owner said the EC offered X an "illegal secret deal" to quietly censor speech without public disclosure in exchange for not being fined.
"We look forward to a very public battle in court, so that the people of Europe can know the truth," Musk said.
Breton has denied the existence of a clandestine pact and invited Musk to pursue legal action if he wished.
