EU says blue verification checks on X ‘deceive’ users

The investigation was first launched in December after the EU found the company’s measures to curb the dissemination of illegal content sub-standard.

The European Commission has found Elon Musk’s X to be in breach of EU laws after an investigation found the platform’s blue checkmarks “deceptive”, among other shortcomings.

In a statement published today (12 July), the Commission said that the platform formerly known as Twitter is in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers.

It claims that X designs and operates its blue verification checkmarks in a way that does not correspond to industry practice and “deceives” users.

“Since anyone can subscribe to obtain such a ‘verified’ status, it negatively affects users’ ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts and the content they interact with. There is evidence of motivated malicious actors abusing the ‘verified account’ to deceive users,” the Commission said.

According to the preliminary findings, X does not comply with the required transparency on advertising because it does not provide a searchable and reliable advertisement repository.

“Instead, [X] put in place design features and access barriers that make the repository unfit for its transparency purpose towards users. The design does not allow for the required supervision and research into emerging risks brought about by the distribution of advertising online.”

X was designated as a very large online platform or VLOP in April last year under the DSA. The investigation was first launched in December after the EU found the company’s measures to curb the dissemination of illegal content sub-standard.

The latest preliminary findings sent to X also found the platform fails to provide access to its public data to researchers in line with the conditions set out in the DSA.

In particular, the Commission claims X prohibits eligible researchers from independently accessing its public data, such as by scraping, as stated in its terms of service.

It said X’s process to grant eligible researchers access to its application programming interface appears to “dissuade” researchers from carrying out their research projects or leave them with “no other choice than to pay disproportionally high fees”.

Since Musk took over the platform, X has faced criticism for reducing its content moderation teams and failing to tackle dangerous content on the site, from AI-generated images of terrorist attacks to misinformation on conflicts.

The Commission sent X a request for information in May asking for specific details about the platform, such as how it assesses risks regarding generative AI tools. A DSA transparency report released earlier this year revealed that X had curtailed its team of content moderators by almost 20pc since a preceding report in October 2023.

If the preliminary views were to be confirmed, the Commission could fine X up to 6pc of its global annual turnover and order it to take measures to address the breach.

“X has now the right of defence,” said internal markets commissioner Thierry Breton, “but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines and require significant changes.”

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