In order to determine whether the Elon Musk-owned platform may have broken any laws pertaining to content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency, and researcher data access, the EU Commission has opened official infringement proceedings. The paid blue tick system is also located beneath the lens.
Brussels – Elon Musk’s platform was the main suspect, thus it should come as no surprise that the EU Commission filed the first official infringement procedure against it in order to comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA). In order to determine whether X has broken any rules regarding risk management, including content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency, and researcher access to data, the EU executive announced today (Dec. 18) that it has started an infringement proceeding.
The decision made by the EU executive is predicated “on the preliminary investigations conducted so far,” the most recent of which focused on the dissemination of illicit content during the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The process will centre on four primary areas, as declared by the EU Commission: adherence to the anticipated duties to prevent the spread of unlawful material (such as the notification and action mechanism); efficacy of countermeasures to prevent information manipulation, particularly in relation to electoral processes (the so-called Community Notes); the limitations on researchers’ access to data monitoring the platform’s transparency, and lastly, the “suspicion of misleading user interface design.” The last item relates to “blue ticks,” which are now associated with subscription payments rather than with user authentication.
At this stage, the Berlaymont services will take interim actions and non-compliance decisions while simultaneously gathering evidence on these four probable violations of the provisions of the Digital Services Act through additional information requests, interviews, and inspections. The Commission notes that the DSA does not impose a timetable on the completion of formal proceedings, emphasising that “the initiation of formal infringement proceedings does not prejudge their outcome.” The intricacy of the case and X’s willingness to cooperate in order to address the issues raised in the proceedings are two examples of the variables that could affect how long the investigation takes. Margrethe Vestager, the Executive Vice President for Digital and Competition at the EU Commission, made it clear, saying, “If the violations are confirmed, there will be sanctions; we take any violation of our rules very seriously.” As of August 25, X is one of the 19 digital platforms subject to the requirements outlined in the Digital Services Act, having come into effect at the close of the previous year. Failing to do so will result in sanctions of up to 6% of global turnover. Since Twitter had a $5 billion turnover in 2021, the highest penalty that could be imposed would be approximately $300 million.
Beyond the Act on Innovation Services. The EU versus Musk drama
In November of last year, Musk’s business made the decision to cease evaluating misinformation about COVID-19, so withdrawing from the European reporting programme about Big Tech’s role in disseminating news about the pandemic and vaccine drive. Věra Jourová, the Vice-President of the EU Commission in charge of Digital, described the U.S. tycoon’s decision to cease disclosing reports on the steps taken to counter misinformation as “the path of confrontation.” In this regard, the decision made in April of last year to stop designating media outlets under the direction of authoritarian governments like those in China, Russia, Iran, and propaganda organisations as “state-affiliated media” sparked a great deal of debate.
Furthermore the lifting of the prohibition on automatically promoting or recommending their material to users.
A number of journalists who covered technology and were harshly critical of the new owner, Elon Musk, had their accounts arbitrarily suspended in December of last year, prompting the von der Leyen Cabinet to warn fines. Just one month prior, the Commission had voiced opposition to the brief (but continuous) shutdown of the European office in Brussels, namely due to the potential ramifications for the U.S. platform’s application of the EU Code of Conduct on Disinformation and the recently enacted Digital Services Act. Eventually, on October 10 of last year, Commissioner Breton and the platform owner had a heated exchange that took place directly on X: The warning came from cabinet member von der Leyen: “Dear Mr. Musk, we have indications that your platform is being used to spread illegal content and disinformation in the EU as a result of the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel.”
