By Kelsey McGillis
Law Student Editor
The European Union (EU) has officially launched an inquiry into X, Elon Musk’s social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. The landmark investigation will determine whether Musk’s X violated the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and marks the EU’s first formal proceeding against a major social media platform.
The DSA, a legislative framework enacted by the EU in November 2022, aims to protect online consumers by regulating digital services and platforms. The DSA focuses on areas such as content moderation, increased corporate transparency, and accountability for large online platforms.
The EU’s decision to open a formal investigation follows its preliminary 2022 inquiry into X’s policies and the social media company’s responses to requests for information pertaining to certain practices. The investigation will initially focus on the wide spread of illegal content on the X platform, encompassing hate speech, disinformation, and terrorist content related to the Israel-Gaza conflict. More specifically, the investigation is set to analyze the efficacy of X’s fact-checking system, transparency mechanisms for advertisements, and the revamped “blue check” verification system. After Elon Musk took over control of Twitter, he removed nearly all regulation of speech, resulting in the flourishing of antisemitic, homophobic, racist, neo-Nazi, and other hate speech online, as well as the rapid spread of misleading conspiracy theories.
Under the DSA, large online platforms are subject to regulatory standards based on a perception that unregulated social media pose high risks to society. This point was emphasized by Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president of the European Commission. These additional obligations include diligent identification and mitigation of systemic risks, timely and transparent content moderation decisions, prevention of deceptive user interface design, and providing researchers with effective access to platform data. The DSA categorizes platforms with more than 45 million users per month as “Very Large Online Platforms” (VLOPs). Being classified as a VLOP, which X clearly is, subjects X to fines of up to 6 percent of its total revenue if its practices are found to violate the DSA.
The European Commission’s authority to conduct a detailed investigation, collect evidence, and implement additional enforcement actions highlights the extreme gravity with which the EU handles potential breaches of the DSA. The Commission can take further enforcement measures and may accept commitments made by X to address the identified issues. There is no legal deadline for concluding proceedings under the DSA, and the duration of the investigation depends on various factors.
Although X is incorporated in Nevada, it has offices throughout the world, including the EU. The Commission considers X to be obligated to comply with the DSA, addressing concerns related to risk management, content moderation, transparency, and user interface design. The platform’s responses during the investigation, including any commitments to remedy identified issues, will shape the outcome of the proceedings.