European regulators have accused Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, of misleading its users by allowing anyone to purchase the blue checkmark, which was originally intended as a mark of verification. This practice, they claim, breaches the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
The European Commission released a statement on Friday, detailing how X’s approach to the blue checkmark and other issues violates the DSA.
They noted that these breaches include the use of deceptive “dark patterns,” lack of advertising transparency, and restricted data access for researchers.
The Commission stated, “X designs and operates its interface for the ‘verified accounts’ with the ‘Blue checkmark’ in a way that does not correspond to industry practice and deceives users. Since anyone can subscribe to obtain such a ‘verified’ status, it negatively affects users’ ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts and the content they interact with.”
They also found that X does not comply with advertising transparency requirements. The platform lacks a searchable and reliable advertisement repository, which is essential for supervision and research into emerging risks related to online advertising.
Furthermore, X failed to provide access to its public data for researchers, preventing them from independently accessing information, as outlined in the DSA.
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If these breaches are confirmed, X could face fines of up to 6% of its total worldwide annual turnover.
The Commission’s findings are based on internal company documents, expert interviews, and cooperation with national Digital Services Coordinators. X, formerly known as Twitter, has been designated as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) since April 25, 2023, due to its declaration of having over 45 million monthly active users in the EU.
In response to these preliminary findings, X has the right to defend itself by examining the investigation documents and replying in writing.
The European Commission has also opened formal proceedings against other major platforms like TikTok, AliExpress, and Meta for similar issues related to the DSA.
The Commission has implemented a whistleblower tool for employees and others with knowledge of these practices to report compliance issues anonymously, aiding in the monitoring of designated VLOPs and VLOSEs.