Elon Musk’s social media platform X is facing an investigation from the European Commission for allegedly failing to tackle illegal content and misinformation on its platform, as well as being nontransparent and having a “deceptive design” of user interface, all of which is a violation of the Digital Services Act in the European Union.
Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for internal market, announced the investigation on Dec. 18 on X.
Today we open formal infringement proceedings against @X :
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) December 18, 2023
⚠️ Suspected breach of obligations to counter #IllegalContent and #Disinformation
⚠️ Suspected breach of #Transparency obligations
⚠️ Suspected #DeceptiveDesign of user interface#DSA pic.twitter.com/NxKIif603k
The Digital Services Act, which went into effect Aug. 25, 2023, is a EU law that holds online platforms accountable for the content that their users post. Online platforms are required to be transparent on how their algorithms operate, and give users the ability to report illegal content while enacting ways to remove posts of that nature from their platforms.
“With strict rules on transparency and accountability, our Digital Services Act aims to protect our children, societies and democracies,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, in a tweet.
Related: Despite what Elon Musk says, X is failing
In response to the investigation, X claims that it is committed to “creating a safe and inclusive environment for all users” on its platform.
“X remains committed to complying with the Digital Services Act and is cooperating with the regulatory process.” the company said in a tweet responding to the news. “It is important that this process remains free of political influence and follows the law.”
The investigation comes after Musk was sent a letter on Oct. 10 from the European Commission where his platform faced allegations of spreading “illegal content and disinformation in the EU” that surrounded the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and was urged to remove the content in question in a matter of 24 hours. He was also warned of facing penalties if an investigation was opened and he was found noncompliant.
In response to the letter, X CEO Linda Yaccarino claimed in a tweet that the platform has “redistributed resources and refocused internal teams who are working around the clock to address this rapidly evolving situation.”
This is not the first time X faced a probe into its practices. In mid-October, X faced a fine of $386,000 from an Australian regulator who claims that the social media platform failed to cooperate in a probe that investigated how it handles child abuse content on its platform.
The fine came after Musk tweeted on Nov. 24, 2022, that removing child exploitation was “priority #1.”
Removing child exploitation is priority #1. Please reply in comments if you see anything that Twitter needs to address.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2022
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