The European Commission has announced Elon Musk’s social media, X, is violating EU online content regulations by employing “dark patterns” to deceive users.
An investigation initiated last year under the Digital Services Act led to this preliminary conclusion, released on Friday, July 12.
The Commission found X breached rules on dark patterns, advertising transparency, and data access for researchers.
A significant issue is the platform’s misuse of the blue checkmark for “verified accounts.”
Unlike industry standards, X allows anyone to subscribe and receive a verified status, which has reportedly been exploited by malicious actors to deceive users.
If the Commission’s findings are confirmed, X could face fines of up to six percent of its global annual turnover.
“In our view, X does not comply with the DSA in key transparency areas, by using dark patterns and thus misleading users, by failing to provide an adequate ad repository, and by blocking access to data for researchers”
Thierry Breton, the EU industry chief, said: “X has now the right of defence — but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines & require significant changes.”
Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s antitrust chief, said: “In our view, X does not comply with the DSA in key transparency areas, by using dark patterns and thus misleading users, by failing to provide an adequate ad repository, and by blocking access to data for researchers.
“The DSA has transparency at its very core, and we are determined to ensure that all platforms, including X, comply with EU legislation.”
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“X has now the right of defence — but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines & require significant changes.”
The commission is also investigating TikTok, Alibaba’s AliExpress and Meta over similar concerns.
It comes as the EU clamps down hard on tech giants like Google and Meta.
In 2022 the commission introduced the Digital Services Act, with a key part of it focused on how digital companies target users with ads.
X did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
