Elon Musk’s social media site X, formerly Twitter, is under fire in the EU following a two-year investigation into the platform’s practices. The European Commission on Friday fined the company 120 million euros for several violations of EU rules, including what it called a “misleading design” of the blue tick that it
“IN a press release. “This scam exposes users to fraud, including identity theft and other forms of manipulation by malicious actors.”
Supervisors found that X had violated EU regulations the Digital Services Actwhich regulates the behavior of online platforms operating in the region. The law does not require online services to verify people’s identities, but it does require them not to use deceptive design practices.
It is the latest chapter in an ongoing power struggle between Europe’s tech companies and Silicon Valley, which often sees the EU’s regulatory approach as too strict. Relations have become further strained following repeated criticism from the current US presidential administration, which accuses the bloc of unfairly targeting and censoring US companies.
X did not respond to a request for comment about the fine, but Musk wrote again
A lack of transparency
Other violations of the Digital Services Act that led to the fines include
tiktok escaped similar punishment On Friday, the committee accepted the company’s commitments to improve advertising transparency.
Hanna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s technical director, defended the Digital Services Act and the decision against it
“DSA restores trust in the online environment,” says Virkkunen. “With the DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we hold X responsible for violating user rights and avoiding liability.”
The opposite decision
“Researchers should have the freedom to study how powerful platforms shape our information environment,” he said. “X has tried to hide how he manipulates the algorithm and empowers hostile states, fraudsters and extremists. European regulators have now confirmed that this behavior is illegal and that transparency is not optional if X wants to continue doing business in Europe.”
