The European Union Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, has accused Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, of deceptive practices and lack of transparency. This comes as Breton criticized X for not meeting the standards set by the Digital Services Act of the EU.
Breton specifically called out X’s use of blue checkmarks, which were once seen as indicators of trustworthy sources of information. However, now these badges are available to anyone willing to pay $8 per month, raising concerns about the platform’s credibility.
In response to these allegations, Musk claimed that the European Commission had offered X an illegal secret deal to censor speech without informing anyone, in exchange for avoiding fines. Musk stated that while other platforms accepted this deal, X did not.
Breton denied these claims, stating that no such secret deal was ever made. The EU has also recently issued a warning to X for failing to control harmful content, marking the third major action taken against prominent tech companies by EU regulators in recent weeks.
X now has the opportunity to address these accusations and make the necessary changes to comply with regulations. Failure to do so could result in penalties of up to 6% of the company’s annual global revenue and mandated corrective actions. Other tech giants like TikTok, AliExpress, and Meta Platforms are also under investigation for DSA compliance.
These developments highlight the growing scrutiny faced by tech companies regarding content moderation and transparency. It remains to be seen how X will respond to these challenges and whether it will be able to meet the EU’s regulatory expectations.
