DSA: EU Commission imposes 120 million euro fine against X

The European Commission has imposed a €120 million fine on X, formerly known as Twitter, for violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA). This marks a significant enforcement action under the DSA, demonstrating the EU's commitment to regulating digital platforms. The decision highlights the EU's proactive stance on ensuring platform accountability and user safety within the digital sphere. The fine addresses three main areas of non-compliance: misleading design features, an inadequate advertising database, and insufficient data access for researchers. The blue verification checkmarks, now purchasable, were deemed deceptive as they no longer reliably indicate verified accounts. X's advertising database also failed to meet DSA standards, along with the system for providing researchers access to user data. The fine is comprised of three parts: €45 million for the blue checks, €40 million for data access and €35 million for the advertising database. The impact of this decision extends beyond the financial penalty, as X has 90 days to implement necessary changes to comply with the DSA. Failure to comply could result in further sanctions, underscoring the legal consequences for non-compliance. This action sends a clear message to other platforms, affecting all users of the platform, and highlighting the EU's commitment to digital regulation. The EU's enforcement actions aim to ensure fairness and transparency within the digital landscape. Ongoing investigations into X's content moderation practices and algorithm further indicate the EU's continued scrutiny of the platform. This case is an important landmark in the enforcement of the DSA, setting a precedent for future actions and demonstrating the EU's determination to regulate digital platforms and uphold its standards. The EU is also investigating the platform's algorithm functionality.