"The fine, equivalent to $140 million, comes two years after the EU began investigating X for what the Commission said at the time were concerns over the Musk-owned network's handling of "risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency, and data access for researchers." The fine issued Friday concerns advertising transparency and researcher access to data, as well as X's overhaul of its blue check account verification system, which the EU said violates the DSA's provisions on deceptive design practices."
"The DSA, enacted in 2022 alongside the Digital Markets Act, laid out rules for online platforms to follow regarding illegal content, disinformation, and other systemic risks. It applies to all online intermediaries, with extra obligations for any company deemed a very large online platform, or VLOP - a list that includes X regardless of Musk's decision to pull the platform out of participation in the EU's voluntary disinformation code."
"Musk changed all that in a bizarre bid to make blue checks less exclusive, rendering them nothing more than the mark of someone willing to pay for a premium X subscription. The move led to chaos as paid blue-check accounts impersonated brands, bots multiplied, and users were left unsure who to trust, one of several issues that drew the EU's scrutiny under the DSA."
The European Commission issued the first Digital Services Act fine of €120 million to X for breaches involving advertising transparency, researcher data access, and a deceptive blue-check verification redesign. The fine equals about $140 million and follows a two-year investigation into concerns including risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency, and researcher data access. X previously reserved blue checks for notable accounts needing impersonation protection; Elon Musk converted blue checks into a paid subscription marker. The paid verification change enabled impersonations, bot proliferation, and user trust erosion. The DSA, enacted in 2022, imposes extra obligations on very large online platforms such as X.
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