Hours after the European Union accused social media platform X of breaching its online content rules, with its “verified” blue tick accounts having the potential to “deceive” users, owner Elon Musk dropped a bombshell revelation, asserting that the European Commission offered a secret deal to quietly censor speech if they wanted to avoid fine.
“The European Commission offered ? an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us. The other platforms accepted that deal. ? did not,” Musk tweeted.
The European Commission offered ? an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2024
The other platforms accepted that deal.
? did not. https://t.co/4lKsaRsYoA
Elon Musk’s social media platform X has been accused by the European Union of violating its online content regulations. The EU’s tech regulator pointed out that the platform’s “verified” blue tick accounts could potentially mislead users. Although users might believe that the identities of blue tick holders are verified, anyone can pay for the tick, leading to possible deception. Evidence of “malicious actors” exploiting this system was also found.
Additionally, the regulator slammed X for lacking transparency in advertising and failing to provide data for research purposes as mandated by EU rules. As a result, X could face fines of up to 6% of its global annual revenue and may be required to alter its operations within the EU.
These conclusions stem from a seven-month investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which mandates major tech companies, including X, to prevent illegal content and protect the public. The DSA was introduced in 2022, and similar investigations are underway for ByteDance’s TikTok, AliExpress, and Meta Platforms.
The Commission stated that X’s design and operation of its blue tick verified accounts are not in line with industry standards and mislead users. They added that allowing anyone to subscribe for a “verified” status undermines users’ ability to make informed decisions regarding the authenticity of accounts and content. There is also evidence of malicious actors abusing the “verified account” feature to deceive users.
