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The European Commission has opened an investigation into X under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA). This was announced by the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, following the letter of warning sent to the owner of the platform, Elon Musk, on the disinformation and terrorist, violent and hate speech content that appeared online following the Hamas attack in Israel.
“Following its designation” among the large platforms capable of influencing the market, highlights the European Commission, “X is required to respect the entire series of provisions introduced by Digital Services Act from the end of August 2023, including the assessment and mitigation of risks related to the spread of illegal content, disinformation, gender-based violence and any negative effects on the exercise of fundamental rights, children’s rights, public safety and mental well-being” .
In addition to the “alleged spread” on risk assessment and measures to mitigate the identified risks”.
X is now required to provide the requested information by 18 October 2023 regarding the activation and operation of the crisis response protocol and by 31 October 2023 for the remaining questions.
Based on the evaluation of Elon Musk’s social media responses, the Commission will evaluate the next steps. Failure to comply with the rules set out in the DSA can result in fines of up to 6% of the company’s annual turnover and, ultimately, the dismantling of its activities on European territory.