2023-12-18 16:16:00
The European Commission has launched an official investigation against the social network X (formerly Twitter) on charges of violating European standards for the removal of illegal content, transparency and the fight against disinformation. European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton announced this on the social network X, Day.Az reports with reference to TASS.
“Today we have launched formal procedures to eliminate violations against X. Suspicions: violations of obligations under [удалению] illegal content and disinformation, violation of transparency obligations, design of a user interface that misleads users,” Breton wrote.
This is the first investigation under the European Digital Services Act, which, in particular, regulates the content of instant messengers and social networks. According to its standards, X may receive a fine of up to 6% of all his profits, and if he refuses to comply with the requirements of the European Commission, he may be blocked in the EU countries.
In mid-October, the European Commission sent a letter to the owner of X, Elon Musk, and the company’s management with a list of violations of which the company is suspected. At the end of October, she received a response, which was immediately confirmed by European Commissioner Breton. The fact that the European Commission opened an official investigation means that the EC’s response was considered unsatisfactory. The European Commission then sent similar letters to the American corporation Meta (recognized as extremist in Russia) and the Chinese company TikTok. They expressed their full readiness to cooperate with the European Commission. According to media reports, the main complaints of the European Commission against all social networks were related to the dissemination of information from Palestinian sources about the attack of the radical Hamas movement on Israel.
Previously, Musk had already been threatened with a ban on X in the EU by Vera Jourova, Deputy Head of the European Commission for European Values and Transparency, accusing the social network of disseminating information that the European Commission considers disinformation.
In August, the so-called EU Digital Services Act came into force in the European Union, which, in particular, obliges social network operators to delete information if it is considered false by the network of so-called independent fact checkers, which is recognized by the European Commission. In case of violation of this requirement, the social network operator may be fined up to 6% of the company’s total profit; in case of systemic disobedience, the violator faces a ban in EU countries. Thus, the European Commission established legal liability in the EU for the operator of the social network for content posted on it by third parties.
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