#digital-services-act

#digital-services-act

The Commission said it would investigate Shein for "addictive design, the lack of transparency of recommender systems, as well as the sale of illegal products, including child sexual abuse material." Shein's platform is addictive because it uses points and rewards for engagement, the Commission said in the press release, which could jeopardize consumer well-being. Shein, a Chinese fast fashion brand, is headquartered in Singapore.

There are threats and intimidation and then suddenly Washington backs down. And we think it's over. But don't believe it for a second. He said when there is blatant aggression we must not bow down or try to reach a settlement. We tried this strategy for months and it's not working. But above all, it strategically leads Europe to increase its dependence.

Meta's messaging app WhatsApp could soon be subject to deeper scrutiny (and punishment) under the European Commission's Digital Services Act, Reuters reports. Because the app's broadcasting feature WhatsApp Channels grew to around 51.7 million average monthly active users in the European Union in the first six months of 2025, the feature has crossed the 45-million-person barrier that lets DSA rules apply.

Getty Images The US State Department said it would deny visas to five people, including a former EU commissioner, for seeking to "coerce" American social media platforms into suppressing viewpoints they oppose. "These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states - in each case targeting American speakers and American companies," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Trump slams 120 million ($140 million) EU fine on X Musk has also denounced the penalty EU cites transparency and data-access breaches US officials say EU is targeting American firms Speaking at the White House, Trump said that Europe was "very bad, very bad for the people" and warned that the United States did not want the continent "to change so much." He did not specify what he meant, but said Europe "has to be very careful doing a lot of things."

The billionaire unleashed a barrage of posts on X, boosting claims that cast Brussels as censorious, corrupt, and anti-democratic - just days after the bloc fined his platform €120 million ($140 million) over the "deceptive design" of its blue checkmarks. In one post, Musk asked followers: "How long before the EU is gone?" AbolishTheEU. In another instance, he backed a call for binding referendums on whether countries should remain in the bloc, describing it as a "good idea."

The European Commission, the EU's executive branch responsible for enforcing the bloc's laws, just hit X with a fine of 120 million euros (about $140 million) for breaking transparency obligations under its Digital Services Act. Specifically, the Commission has taken issue with the platform's deceptive design of its blue checkmark verification badges, as well as a lack of transparency around its advertisers.

A third of the fine came from one of the first moves Musk made when taking over Twitter. In November 2022, he changed the platform's historical use of a blue checkmark to verify the identities of notable users. Instead, Musk started selling blue checks for about $8 per month, immediately prompting a wave of imposter accounts pretending to be notable celebrities, officials, and brands.