The European Union has officially launched an inquiry into X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, over allegations of spreading illegal content and disinformation online, the European Commission announced.
The inquiry follows complaints from civil society groups, national authorities and users who claim that X has failed to comply with the EU rules and recommendations on tackling online harms, such as terrorist and violent content, hate speech, gender-based violence and misinformation.
On Thursday, the Commission said that it has sent a request for information to X under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a landmark legislation that sets out new obligations and responsibilities for online platforms in the EU. The DSA aims to ensure a safe and trustworthy online environment for EU citizens and businesses, in line with the fundamental rights and values of the EU.
According to the Commission, the inquiry will examine whether X has taken sufficient and effective measures to prevent, detect and remove illegal content from its service, as well as to assess and mitigate the risks related to the dissemination of disinformation and other negative effects on the exercise of fundamental rights, public security and mental well-being.
The inquiry will also assess whether X has respected the rights of its users, such as freedom of expression, data protection and privacy, and whether it has provided adequate safeguards and remedies for content moderation decisions.
The Commission said that it will conduct the inquiry in close cooperation with the national competent authorities and other relevant stakeholders. It will also seek information from X itself and give it the opportunity to present its views and arguments.
X needs to provide the requested information to the Commission by 18 October 2023 for questions related to the activation and functioning of X’s crisis response protocol and by 31 October 2023 on the rest. Based on the assessment of X’s replies, the Commission will decide on the next steps. This could entail the formal opening of proceedings against X, which could result in fines or injunctions.
The Commission can impose fines for incorrect, incomplete or misleading information in response to a request for information. In case of failure to reply by X, the Commission may decide to request the information by decision. In this case, failure to reply by the deadline could lead to the imposition of periodic penalty payments.
X is one of the 19 Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) designated by the Commission in April 2023, based on their number of users being above 45 million, or 10% of EU population. These services need to comply with the full set of provisions introduced by the DSA since the end of August 2023.
X, which rebranded itself from Twitter in July 2023 after being acquired by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, has not yet commented on the inquiry. However, Musk has previously stated that he plans to transform X into “the everything app”, offering various functions beyond social media, such as messaging, gaming, payments and news.
X is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, with close to 400 million users. It is also widely used by politicians, celebrities, journalists and activists to share their opinions and information with their followers. However, it has also been criticised for hosting harmful and illegal content online, such as propaganda from terrorist groups, misinformation campaigns and abusive behaviour.
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