The regulatory body of the European Union announced on Friday that Elon Musk’s social media platform has violated its rules regarding advertising transparency, data access for researchers, and user information.
The European Commission’s decision follows an investigation into whether X—formerly known as Twitter before Musk acquired it in October 2022—breached the Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA aims to ensure that significant digital platforms and their owners protect user privacy and prevent the spread of harmful content online.
The commission stated that X has not adhered to its rules mandating transparency in advertising, highlighting the absence of a searchable advertising database. In contrast, Meta’s Facebook offers an ad library, where users can search for ads that have run in the E.U. over the past year, including those focused on political or social issues for the past seven years.
Musk’s platform has also faced criticism for not providing researchers with access to public data. The commission specifically mentioned Musk’s decision to place X’s application programming interface (API)—which allows researchers access to about 10 million posts per month—behind a costly paywall, halting at least 100 research projects.
Additionally, the commission found that X’s verification system misleads users into believing certain accounts are legitimate. After Musk took over X, the platform removed the blue checkmarks that identified verified users. Now, these checkmarks are linked to subscription accounts that anyone can buy. “There is evidence of malicious actors exploiting the ‘verified account’ to mislead users,” the commission stated.
Thierry Breton, the E.U. commissioner for the internal market, commented that “BlueChecks used to signify trustworthy information sources,” and added that X’s ad repository and conditions for data access by researchers do not meet the DSA’s transparency requirements.
In response to the decision, Musk posted a series of remarks. He questioned the legitimacy of Breton’s blue checkmark and labeled the DSA itself as “misinformation.”
Musk claimed that the European Commission had offered X an illegal secret deal to secretly censor speech, which they refused. He accused other platforms of accepting such deals, though he did not specify who.
Musk further stated that X looks forward to a “very public battle in court, so that the people of Europe can know the truth.”
In his response, Breton affirmed, “There has never been—and will never be—any ‘secret deal’. With anyone.” He mentioned that the DSA allows large platforms the option to offer commitments to settle a case, and that X had asked the commission to clarify its concerns and the settlement process.
The commission’s findings are preliminary, and X has the opportunity to respond. If the commission confirms its preliminary findings, X could face fines up to 6% of its total worldwide annual revenue and be required to take corrective measures.
The commission has been active in recent months, investigating multiple tech giants including Apple, Microsoft, and Meta for breaching its anti-competition law, the Digital Markets Act.