On the spread of illegal content on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, Apple’s App Store, and Twitter

A little more than two months later, the formal investigation has been announced and Breton raised initial concern over the spread of illegal content on X. The company responded to Breton by outlining its moderation efforts, noting that it had removed “hundreds” of Hamas-affiliated accounts and removed or labeled “tens of thousands of pieces of content.” The commission followed up with a formal request. Similar requests have also been sent to TikTok.

In a press release, the Commission said it will look at X’s attempts to counter the spread of illegal content on its platform and will examine X’s efforts to stop “information manipulation” via its Community Notes system and other policies. It’s also looking into matters beyond content moderation, including “deceptive design” relating to “the so-called Blue checks,” advertising transparency, and data access for researchers.

The Commission has never before launched formal proceedings under the DSA. The EU is planning to regulate large online platforms under the DSA in April of 2023. The list included Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, as well as TikTok, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Apple’s App Store.

“Today’s opening of formal proceedings against X makes it clear that, with the DSA, the time of big online platforms behaving like they are ‘too big to care’ has come to an end,” said Thierry Breton, EU commissioner for internal markets.

Interim enforcement action against X is what the Commission may take after gathering evidence.

After the investigation is over, officials will conduct interviews and gather more evidence. We will take any violation of our rules very seriously. And the evidence we currently have is enough to formally open a proceeding against X,” said Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president for digital affairs in Europe.

The EU raised a number of other concerns regarding the platform’s operations, including whether it was focused on the English language in moderation operations and whether users could notify if they saw illegal content. X has more than 2,000 English speaking moderators, compared to one Dutch speaking one and one Polish one according to a tally the company released last month.

Another issue being examined is whether Community Notes can work in other languages than English or intervene fast enough during elections.

EU probes of the X-ray platform Elon Musk’s influence on public perceptions of a trustworthy person paying for blue ticks

EU officials also said they would be investigating if users on the platform are being misled about the trustworthiness of people who pay for blue ticks—a feature that was previously reserved for verified users such as celebrities, public figures, or journalists. The platform has given blue ticks to paid subscribers, a feature that researchers say has been used to spread misinformation.

The relationship between Elon Musk and the European Union further deteriorated Monday, with the bloc launching a formal investigation into the way X has been run since the billionaire took over last year.