Blue checkmarks on X deceives users: EU investigation

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has reportedly breached European Union (EU) content rules because, as per the EU, the platform deceives users with its blue checkmarks. As such, X is expected to pay a large amount of fines under disciplinary action to be taken by the EU.

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 of 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," Elon Musk said on X. Earlier, Musk 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.

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.

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