The EU has launched its first probe into whether X, the online platform owned by Elon Musk, violated new social media rules that aim to reduce online harm.
European Commissioner Thierry Breton announced the formal proceedings against @X on the platform itself on Monday.
He said the Commission would investigate how X manages its systems and policies in relation to some alleged breaches.
He added that the investigation does not imply any guilt or innocence. The probe will focus on whether X, which used to be called Twitter, did enough to stop illegal content and whether it had effective tools to fight “information manipulation”, especially through its Community Notes feature. The EU will also check whether X was open enough with researchers and whether it used a “deceptive design” for its user interface, including its blue check subscription service.
“X is co-operating with the regulatory process and is committed to complying with the Digital Services Act,” the company said in a statement.
“It is important that this process is free of political influence and follows the law. X is working hard to create a safe and inclusive platform for all users, while protecting freedom of expression, and we will not stop until we achieve this goal.”
The EU’s DSA, which came into force earlier this year, imposes stricter oversight on big tech companies and threatens them with fines of up to 6% of their global revenue — which could amount to billions — or even a ban from the EU. The DSA is a set of ambitious rules that aim to keep users safe online and prevent the spread of harmful content that is either illegal, such as child sexual abuse or terrorism content, or breaches a platform’s terms of service, such as promotion of genocide or anorexia.
The EU has already singled out X as the worst online platform for fake news, and urged Musk, who acquired the platform a year ago, to do more to clean it up.
The European Commission also questioned X about its handling of hate speech, misinformation and violent terrorist content related to the Israel-Hamas war after the conflict broke out.