X (formerly known as Twitter) has become the first official subject of investigation under the European Union’s (EU) Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA, introduced in August, aims to prevent the spread of fake news and illegal content on social media platforms. Following the outbreak of the Israel-Palestine conflict, X has been identified as a source of fake news, prompting the EU, which had issued warnings in the past, to initiate a formal investigation. If found in violation of the DSA, X could face fines of up to 6% of its global revenue, and there is speculation that its services in Europe may be suspended.
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On the 18th (local time), the European Commission officially announced the initiation of an investigation into X for potential violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), as reported by Reuters and other sources. The European Commission plans to examine X’s overall content moderation practices, focusing on the handling of illegal content reports and processing speed, rather than evaluating individual pieces of content.
The investigation also includes X’s “Community Notes” feature, introduced earlier this year. Community Notes allows individual X users to indicate the veracity of posts. Reuters noted that this feature essentially shifts the responsibility of fact-checking to users. In response to the EU’s comprehensive investigation, X immediately pushed back, stating that it is making every effort to comply with the DSA and is cooperating with the regulatory process.
EU and X have been in ongoing conflict, particularly since the Ukraine-Russia war. The tension escalated as pro-Hamas factions used X for information warfare, generating anti-Israeli content. While X claims to make efforts to block problematic accounts, it has been criticized for being less proactive than Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, in addressing these issues.
The initiation of this investigation by the EU seems to carry a ‘punitive’ nature against X and Musk. Thierry Breton, a member of the EU Commission, and Elon Musk, owner of X, have been in a verbal war over the DSA since last October. In response to Breton’s publicly issued ‘warning’, Musk asked, “Tell me what the violation is.” As this is the first investigation since the law’s implementation, there is a possibility that it could lead to a fine. Bloomberg estimates X’s advertising revenue this year at $2.5 billion. The fine could reach up to $150 million.
By. Min Hyuk Yoon
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