LONDON (AP) 鈥 The European Union on Monday made Elon Musk鈥檚 online platform X the first tech company to face an investigation under Europe's tough new regulations designed to clean up social media and protect people from toxic online content.
鈥淭oday we open formal infringement proceedings against @X鈥 under the Digital Services Act, European Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a post on the platform formerly known as Twitter. Musk, in response, questioned whether the EU would also scrutinize other social media sites.
The 27-nation bloc is ratcheting up the pressure on X after asking the company in October for , misinformation and violent terrorist content related to the . The case presents the first test for the Digital Services Act, part of a set of pioneering regulations that the EU has drawn up to rein in the power of tech companies.
The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, 鈥渨ill now investigate X鈥檚 systems and policies related to certain suspected infringements鈥 of the DSA, spokesman Johannes Bahrke told a press briefing in Brussels. 鈥淚t does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.鈥
The San Francisco-based social media platform says it is 鈥渃ommitted to complying with the Digital Services Act, and is cooperating with the regulatory process. It is important that this process remains free of political influence and follows the law.鈥
鈥淴 is focused on creating a safe and inclusive environment for all users on our platform, while protecting freedom of expression, and we will continue to work tirelessly towards this goal,鈥 the company said in a statement.
Musk has touted the platform as a place for free speech to thrive, but changes that the billionaire Tesla CEO made to the site after he bought it a year ago 鈥 such as and of divisive public personalities 鈥 have turned off users and advertisers, who have appearing alongside their ads. He has also pulled the platform out of a against disinformation.
The EU's investigation will look into to curb the spread of illegal content 鈥 such as hate speech or incitement of terrorism 鈥 to its 112 million users in Europe.
That includes the effectiveness of X's tools for users to flag up illegal material in posts and ads so that it can be swiftly removed, as well as whether the company is following its own policies on restricting 鈥渟ensitive content.鈥
The investigation also will examine whether X's measures to combat 鈥 ," especially through its crowd-sourced Community Notes fact-checking feature, were effective within the European Union.
Another area of investigation is transparency. The EU said there are "suspected shortcomings" in researchers' access to X鈥檚 publicly accessible data" as well as its ad database, both of which are required by the DSA.
Lastly, the investigation will look into whether users are being tricked by suspected 鈥渄eceptive design鈥 of X's interface, including for its . The blue checkmarks once signified that the person or institution behind , such as a celebrity, athlete or journalist, but now merely indicate someone pays $8 a month to boost their posts above unchecked users.
鈥淎re you taking action against other social media?鈥 Musk tweeted in response to Breton. 鈥淏ecause if you have those issues with this platform, and none are perfect, the others are much worse.鈥
The EU has called out X as the , and officials have exhorted owner Musk to clean it up.
Now, it's taking official steps under the , a set of far-reaching rules designed to keep users safe online and that鈥檚 either illegal or violates a platform鈥檚 terms of service, such as promotion of genocide or anorexia.
A raft of big tech companies faced stricter scrutiny after the DSA took effect earlier this year, threatening penalties of up to 6% of their global revenue 鈥 which could amount to billions 鈥 or even a .
Fines are, however, considered a last ditch resort, and Brussels could first use 鈥渋nterim measures" to force companies to comply.
There's no deadline for a decision on the investigation into X, and the commission said it would continue to gather evidence, carry out interviews and conduct inspections.