Elon Musk’s X could face $200M EU fines over alleged DSA violations

Elon Musk’s X could face $200M EU fines over alleged DSA violations Elon Musk’s X.com has tentatively determined in violation of the Digital Services Act, according to documents made public by the European Union. The preliminary conclusions of the EU state that X broke the DSA on three different occasions and might fined up to 6% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the provider.

The European Commission has informed X of a preliminary view of the Digital Services Act breach in related areas. The investigation, which began in December 2023, raised concerns about X’s moderation practices, use of generative AI, and lack of transparency over its advertising practices.

The EU’s initial DSA complaint against Elon Musk and X primarily focuses on X’s profile badges. Specifically, X is charged with creating and running its “blue tick” verification system “in a way that does not correspond to industry practice and deceives users,” according to the notification dated July 12. Consequently, this has raised concerns about transparency and user trust on the platform.

“Since anyone can subscribe to obtain such a ‘verified’ status, it negatively affects users’ ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts and the content they interact with.”

X’s handling of researchers and advertising is the source of other grievances. The EU requires “very large online platforms” (VLOPs), like X, to conform to transparency standards for advertising distribution on their platforms. People say that X did not fulfill these prerequisites and violated the DCA by refusing to comply with orders to grant researchers access to public data via the X API.

There is now an appeal open to Elon Musk and X. However, if authorities finally find the business and its creator to have violated the law, they might fine them more than $200 million or 6% of the company’s revenue. Additionally, the business would also have to endure a period of oversight as it aligns its offerings with legal requirements.