The European Commission says that blue tick accounts on X are not properly verified and may be scammers. US political figures have described the fine as an attack on innovation
In a decision today, the EU enforcement body said that blue tick accounts are often scammers masquerading as honest people. It also said that X had contravened Europe’s Digital Services Act (DSA) in other ways, including a lack of transparency around its advertising repository and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers.
”On X, anyone can pay to obtain the ‘verified’ status without the company meaningfully verifying who is behind the account, making it difficult for users to judge the authenticity of accounts and content they engage with,” the Commission said, in a statement.
”This deception exposes users to scams, including impersonation frauds, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors. While the DSA does not mandate user verification, it clearly prohibits online platforms from falsely claiming that users have been verified, when no such verification took place.”
The Irish Independent has contacted X for comment.
Elon Musk’s company, which retains a European regulatory headquarters in Dublin, now has 60 working days to convince the Commission that it will end “the deceptive use of blue checkmarks”.
The company has also been given 90 working days to fix issues around its advertising repository and access to public data for researchers.
If X doesn’t do this, the Commission says it may be subject to further fines.
The fine has received a hostile political reaction in the US.
“The European Commission’s $140 million fine isn’t just an attack on X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments,” said US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
“The days of censoring Americans online are over.”
The angry response was echoed by the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr.
“Once again, Europe is fining a successful US tech company for being a successful US tech company,” said Carr.
“Europe is taxing Americans to subsidise a continent held back by Europe’s own suffocating regulations.”
But one Irish MEP said that the fine represented a minimal amount.
”While welcome, given that this investigation took two years, the fine of €120m translates to only €5m for each month over those two years when users were deceived,” said Fianna Fail’s Barry Andrews MEP, in a statement to the Irish Independent.
“For a multi-billion dollar company like X, that is less than a slap on the wrist.”
European officials are adamant that the Digital Services Act’s rules must be observed.
“With the DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability,” said Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.
”Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU. The DSA protects users and gives researchers the way to uncover potential threats. The DSA restores trust in the online environment.
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On December 5th, this article was updated to include a response from Barry Andrews MEP.
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