The European Commission has levied a significant €120 million fine against X, formerly known as Twitter, citing repeated and serious breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The penalty underscores the Commission’s increasingly assertive role in regulating online platforms and highlights persistent challenges in ensuring transparency and accountability within social media.
The core of the rebuke centers on X’s deceptive implementation of its “blue checkmark” verification system. The Commission argues that the current design misleadingly implies a level of authentication that doesn’t exist, allowing users to purchase the status – and therefore, a perceived legitimacy – without undergoing rigorous verification processes. This practice, officials state, actively undermines users’ ability to discern authentic accounts from those potentially engaged in misinformation or fraudulent activities. Critics suggest this commercialization of verification diminishes its significance and erodes trust in the platform.
Beyond the verification system, the Commission found that X’s advertising repository, intended to provide transparency into sponsored content, failed to meet mandated disclosure requirements. Crucial information – including ad content, targeting parameters and the identity of the paying advertiser – was systematically omitted, effectively hindering independent research and public scrutiny of potential risks associated with online advertising. This lack of transparency, the Commission emphasized, prevents meaningful oversight and limits the ability to assess the impact of targeted campaigns.
While X now has 60 days to rectify the identified violations, the fine represents more than just a financial penalty. It signals a shift in the EU’s approach to digital regulation, placing a renewed emphasis on enforcing transparency obligations and holding platforms accountable for misleading practices that could compromise user trust and public discourse. The case is expected to set a precedent for future enforcement actions against other large online platforms and prompts a wider debate concerning the balance between commercial viability and public service responsibilities for social media giants operating within the EU.