European Commission Warns X, Formerly Twitter, of Potential DSA Violations

The European Commission has notified X, formerly known as Twitter, that it may be the first company found in violation of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The commission's preliminary findings indicate potential breaches in areas related to "dark patterns, advertising transparency, and data access for researchers."

In a press release on Friday, the commission highlighted that X might be “using dark patterns to deceive users.” X, categorized as a Very Large Online Platform under DSA regulations, is alleged to have violated the act in three key areas.

Firstly, the commission pointed to X's user verification system, the blue checkmark, which shifted to a subscription model under owner Elon Musk. This change “negatively affects users’ ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts and the content they interact with. There is evidence of motivated malicious actors abusing the ‘verified account’ to deceive users,” the commission stated.

Secondly, the DSA mandates that companies maintain a “searchable and reliable advertisement repository.” The commission accused X of lacking the necessary transparency required by law.

Thirdly, the DSA stipulates that researchers must be allowed independent access to public data. The commission alleged that X’s policies on research access “dissuade researchers from carrying out their research projects or leave them with no other choice than to pay disproportionally high fees.”

In response, Musk claimed on X that, “The European Commission offered X an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us. The other platforms accepted that deal. X did not.”

If the commission confirms its findings, it could impose a fine on X amounting to up to 6 percent of its annual turnover and mandate the social media platform to “take measures to address the breach.” The commission added, “A non-compliance decision may also trigger an enhanced supervision period to ensure compliance with the measures the provider intends to take to remedy the breach.”

The commission also noted that it has initiated formal proceedings regarding potential DSA violations against other platforms, including TikTok in February and April, AliExpress in March, and Meta in April and May.

By fLEXI tEAM