- EU fines X for first time under Digital Services Act amounting to €120 million/$140 million
- It concerns the blue checkmark, ad transparency and search data
- Musk calls for the abolition of the European Union
The European Commission has fined social media platform
Europe’s concerns include the lack of transparency of the platform’s advertising repository and the failure to provide researchers with access to public data. The block also criticized X’s blue check mark system, calling it misleading to users.
X, owned by Elon Musk, was given 60 days to respond to the blue check issues and 90 days to provide an action plan for ad transparency and access to search data.
X fined €120 million in Europe under the Digital Services Act (DSA)
Failure to meet the deadlines set by the European Commission to remedy the situation could lead to continued fines imposed on Elon Musk’s platform.
Regarding X’s advertising, the EU noted that the platform “incorporates design features and access barriers” such as processing delays, which “prevent researchers and the public from independently reviewing any potential risks.” Repositories play an important role in detecting scams, hybrid threat campaigns, coordinated information operations and false advertisements, many of which could be loaded with malware or lead to identity theft.
For researchers, X’s terms “prohibit eligible researchers from independently accessing its public data.”
The EU also noted that X did not carry out sufficient verification of accounts requesting the paid blue checkmark. This is misleading because “[the DSA] clearly prohibits online platforms from falsely claiming that users have been verified, when such verification has not taken place.
Although the case has been in the works for approximately two years and investigations will begin in December 2023, this landmark case marks the first fine under the DSA.
“With the DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we hold
US Ambassador to the EU Andy Puzder said the fine was “excessive” and “targeted American innovation”.
“The Trump administration has been clear: we oppose censorship and we will challenge burdensome regulations that target American companies abroad,” Puzder said, hoping for “fair, open and reciprocal trade” with the EU.
In response to Virkkunen’s X-rated post, Musk replied: “You love censorship more than life itself. »
Separately, Musk wrote: “The EU should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries, so that governments can better represent their people. »
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