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EU charges X with deceiving users via blue checkmark, draws Musk's ire

[July 13, 2024] By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Elon Musk's social media company X breached European Union online content rules and its blue checkmark deceives users, EU tech regulators ruled on Friday in a finding that could lead to a hefty fine and significant changes in how it operates.

The charges by the European Commission, the first issued under the Digital Services Act (DSA), follow a seven-month long investigation. The new rules require very large online platforms and search engines to do more to tackle illegal content and risks to public security.

The EU executive's preliminary findings or charges sent to X targeted the company's so-called dark patterns that shape user behaviour, its advertising transparency and data access for researchers.

X said it disagreed with the EU's assessment on how it complies with the DSA while owner Musk threatened litigation.

"We look forward to a very public battle in court, so that the people of Europe can know the truth," Musk said on X.

Earlier he said that the Commission had offered X an illegal secret deal to censor speech without telling anyone which the company did not accept unlike other unnamed platforms.

EU industry chief Thierry Breton fired back.

"Be our guest," he wrote on X. "There has never been — and will never be — any 'secret deal'. With anyone. The DSA provides X (and any large platform) with the possibility to offer commitments to settle a case."

"Up to you to decide whether to offer commitments or not. That is how rule of law procedures work. See you (in court or not)," Breton said.

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The new logo of Twitter is seen in this illustration taken, July 24, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The Commission said X's verified accounts which carry a blue checkmark do not correspond to industry practice and negatively affect users' ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts they interact with.

After buying the platform then known as Twitter in 2022, Musk altered the use of the blue checkmark, which previously indicated that an account belonged to a public figure whose identity was verified but was changed to indicate it belonged to a paid subscriber.

The commission said X had also failed to comply with a DSA requirement to provide searchable and reliable information about advertisements in a library for easy access.

X was also charged with blocking researchers from accessing its public data. The company, which will have several months to respond to the charges, could face a fine of as much as 6% of its global turnover if found guilty of breaching the DSA.

"X has now the right of defence — but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines and require significant changes," Breton said in a statement.

The Commission said separate investigations continue into dissemination of illegal content on X and measures it has taken to counter disinformation.

ByteDance's TikTok, AliExpress and Meta Platforms are also being investigated under the DSA.

(Reporting by Foo Yun CheeEditing by Jason Neely, David Evans, Peter Graff and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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