EU Commission is Investigating X/Twitter Over Digital Service Act Violations

The European Commission announced today that it’s launching an investigation to determine if Twitter/X failed to respect the Digital Services Act (DSA), the new EU law designated to regulate social networks and other online services designated as very large online platforms (VLOPs). The DSA aims to curb the distribution of illegal content and the manipulation of information for harmful purposes, and it’s hard to deny that under Musk’s leadership, the platform formerly known as X has evolved into an even worse version of the toxic cesspool it already was.

Problems started early on when X made the blue verified checkmark a paid feature and boosted the posts from “verified” accounts in the algorithm. What used to be a symbol of trust quickly became something that people could abuse to misinform other users on the platform. Moreover, X launching its ads revenue sharing program gave users with the blue verified checkmark another incentive to post sensationalistic content to drive engagement.

The EU Commission emphasized today that it’s the first time that it will be investigating potential DSA violations in the EU. As part of these first formal proceedings, the regulator will be specifically looking at “the dissemination of illegal content in the context of Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel.”

We have opened formal proceedings to assess whether X may have breached the #DSA in areas linked to:

🔹 risk management
🔹 content moderation
🔹 dark patterns
🔹 advertising transparency
🔹 data access for researchers

More information on next steps: https://t.co/VHJjIsVftY pic.twitter.com/oygKah5GIq

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) December 18, 2023

Moreover, the EU Commission will also investigate X’s measures to combat disinformation and increase transparency on the platform, as well as a “suspected deceptive design” of the platform related to the blue verified checkmark, which again, you can get by simply subscribing to X Premium.

In a statement published on X, the company said that it “remains committed to complying with the Digital Services Act and is cooperating with the regulatory process.” The company also added that it’s “focused on creating a safe and inclusive environment for all users on our platform, while protecting freedom of expression, and we will continue to work tirelessly towards this goal.”