The European Commission opened a formal investigation into X on Monday, alleging the company has failed to combat the spread of disinformation and illegal content on its platform, the first probe of its kind by the bloc under new regulations targeting social media companies.
Key facts
- The investigation will assess whether X has breached the Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes penalties on companies that fail to stop the spread of harmful content.
- Regulators will examine X’s efforts to mitigate the “dissemination of illegal content” on its platform, how it combats information manipulation—specifically the effectiveness of X’s Community Notes system, a crowd-sourced attempt at fact-checking—and how it has increased transparency for data researchers.
- A European Commission official told the Wall Street Journal that regulators are concerned about how Community Notes functions in the European Union, including how it moderates content in different languages.
- Regulators will also investigate whether X has a “deceptive design” for its user interface, including the company’s blue checkmarks, which were previously given to authentic and notable accounts but are now linked to subscription plans.
- The investigation was launched under the DSA following a preliminary probe, the European Commission said, which analyzed a risk assessment report by X, a transparency report published by the company in November and X’s responses to formal requests for information.
- The European Commission noted there is no deadline for the investigation, adding it would continue gathering evidence.
Surprising fact
Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said the investigation into X means “the time of big online platforms behaving like they are ‘too big to care’ has come to an end.”
Crucial quote
Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said the investigation into X means “the time of big online platforms behaving like they are ‘too big to care’ has come to an end.”
What to watch for
If X is found to have breached the DSA, the platform could be suspended and fined up to 6% of its global annual revenue. Failure to reply or providing incorrect, incomplete or misleading information could result in fines of up to 5% of the company’s daily global revenue.
Key background
The European Commission announced in October that it sent a formal request to X for information and “illegal content and disinformation” allegedly spreading on the platform.
Breton also warned the company that penalties could be imposed, after preliminary findings suggested X was being used to spread disinformation and violent posts addressing the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The request was tied to whether X was complying with the DSA, which requires online platforms like X to mitigate the risk of disinformation and remove hate speech.
Musk, responding to the request for information, said the EU had not sent the company “any examples” of disinformation or violent content allegedly spreading on the platform.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
