Today, X received a 120 million euro ($140 million) fine from the European Commission for violating transparency requirements. The decision comes after a two-year investigation under the Digital Services Act, adopted in 2022 to oversee online platforms.
The Commission stated that breaches include “the deceptive design of its ‘blue checkmark,’ the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers.”
Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy, and European Commissioner for Digital and Frontier Technologies, stated, “Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads, and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU.”
“With the DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability.”
According to the comission, X has 60 days to develop solutions to address the issues and 90 days to implement the changes, or it could face additional fines.
The fine was issued a day after the commission announced its plan to investigate whether Meta violated antitrust regulations related to a new policy permitting AI providers’ access to WhatsApp.
In a post on X before the fine was announced, US Vice President JD Vance said, “The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage.”
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
