X IS UNDER INVESTIGATION OVER DISFORMATION.

THAT NEWS COMING FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION MONDAY IN WHAT IS THE FIRST EVER PROBE OPENED UNDER EUROPE’S NEW DIGITAL SERVICES ACT.THE E.U.  IS LOOKING INTO ACCUSATIONS THAT ELON MUSK’S PLATFORM VIOLATED NEW REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTED IN AUGUST CRACKING DOWN ON THE SPREAD OF DISINFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

THE PROBE COULD LAST SEVERAL MONTHS AND THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION WILL “ASSESS whether X may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers” ACCORDING TO A NEWS RELEASE.

THE INVESTIGATION COMES TWO MONTHS AFTER E-U OFFICIALS FIRST ASKED ‘X’ OFFICIALS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT “ILLEGAL CONTENT” – PARTICULARLY VIOLENT CONTENT SPREADING ON THE SITE – RELATED TO THE OCTOBER 7TH HAMAS TERROR ATTACK ON ISRAEL. 

REGULATORS WILL CONTINUE GATHERING INFORMATION – TO SEE IF ‘X’ ATTEMPTED TO COUNTER DISINFORMATION RELATED TO THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR VIA IT’S COMMUNITY NOTES SYSTEM.

IF THE INVESTIGATION REVEALS THAT ‘X’ ENGAGED IN UNLAWFUL PRACTICES – such as not fighting disinformation – MUSK’S PLATFORM COULD BE FINED UP TO 6% OF ITS GLOBAL ANNUAL REVENUE.

AND BASED ON 2022 FIGURES…

‘X’ BROUGHT IN $4.4 BILLION DOLLARS LAST YEAR – WHICH COULD EQUATE TO 282 MILLION DOLLARS IN FINES.

MUSK HAS NOT PERSONALLY COMMENTED ON THE PROBE – HOWEVER – ‘X’s’ “SAFETY PAGE” POSTED QUOTE:

[@Safety via X]

“X REMAINS COMMITTED 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. X 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.”

[Lauren Taylor]

OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES – SUCH AS MET’S FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM, ALONG WITH SNAPCHAT AND TIK-TOK – HAVE ALSO RECEIVED REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION UNDER THE DSA – HOWVER – THE COMMISSION HAS NOT YET LAUNCHED ANY PROBES INTO THOSE COMPANIES.