BRUSSELS, Belgium (Diya TV) — Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter, is under investigation by the European Union over suspected breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA). According to insiders privy to the inquiry, the platform has become a source of harmful content and misinformation, and such breaches could attract financial fines of up to 6% of its revenue worldwide.
With the aim to regulate online platforms and ensure users’ safety, critics say the DSA is imposing major burdens on companies like X when it comes to managing illegal content, as well as engaging with authorities to flag and remove it. X, as a VLOP classification under EU law, has to perform systematic reviews of systemic risks and take appropriate measures to combat harmful content.
Commissioner Thierry Breton, who is spearheading the investigation, underlined the urgency of compliance in warning that failure to meet DSA obligations can lead to substantial financial penalties.
This comes at a time when X is going through a difficult time financially, as its value has dropped significantly since being acquired by Musk for $44 billion. The platform already incurred losses of 40% in revenue this 2023, and its problems with advertisers are well documented.
With the EU taking an extremely strong regulatory stand against big tech, it remains to be seen how Musk and leaders like him will respond, particularly if his bigger empire – Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, etc. – will also face fines.
Musk has indicated he is ready to take the decision to court. This is the latest addition to the growing list of regulatory battles that Musk is facing as he keeps challenging EU and U.S. authorities across various sectors.
