European Commission starts proceedings against online platform

The European Commission is launching proceedings against the online platform X (formerly Twitter). It will be investigated whether X breached EU rules on risk management and content moderation, advertising transparency and data access for researchers, as the authority announced in Brussels on Monday.

It also concerns so-called dark patterns. These are practices designed to significantly disrupt or limit users’ ability to make autonomous and informed choices or decisions.

X has long been criticized for not taking decisive action against misinformation and hate speech on the platform. The European Commission had already submitted an official request to the social network after numerous indications of illegal and misleading messages about the Gaza war. Online platforms are required by a new EU Digital Services Law (DSA) to take strict measures against illegal content, such as hate speech and online hate speech.

According to the European Commission, this is the first procedure carried out against an online platform based on the new law. At the end of such a procedure, a large fine may follow.

The investigation will now examine compliance with regulations governing the distribution of illegal content in the EU. The procedure also focuses on how effective the measures are against information manipulation and for more transparency on the platform. In particular, the blue check mark for accounts linked to subscriptions needs to be put to the test. (saw/sda/awp/dpa)