"The European Commission slapped a €120 million fine on Friday on Elon Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, for the first time under its landmark Digital Services Act following a two-year investigation. At the centre of the probe is the blue checkmark, previously used to signal official accounts at no cost but now sold for €7 a month, which risks confusing users about the veracity of identities."
"Under the new X settings, an account with a checkmark may not signal a real user and could instead be a bot, the Commission said. As a result, it decided to impose a financial penalty for a breach of the EU's DSA rules. Secondly, the Commission found that X did not comply with the transparency obligation for advertising on social media platforms, blurring the line between advertising and content that could lead to financial scams for users."
"The Commission argued that users and authorities cannot access an updated register of advertisers on the site, which could also be problematic during election campaigns, as the origin of the claims is unclear. X has failed to provide a reason why some advertisements were targeting specific users. The Commission also criticised X for failing to provide researchers with data on views and likes, despite this being an obligation under the DSA."
EU regulators imposed a €120 million fine on X for breaches of the Digital Services Act after a two-year probe. The probe focused on the paid blue checkmark, previously free verification, which may mislead users by implying account authenticity when the account could be a bot. Regulators found advertising transparency obligations unmet, with unclear distinctions between ads and content and no accessible updated advertiser register, creating election and scam risks. X did not explain why some ads targeted specific users and withheld researchers' mandated data on views and likes. The fine was split: €45m verification, €40m researcher access, €35m advertiser register.
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