The European Union has fined Elon Musk’s Ax €120 million (about $140 million) for violating the bloc’s digital services rulebook, partly for the “misleading design” of its blue checkmark. Today’s announcement marks the first time that a company has been fined under the landmark Digital Services Act (DSA) law to prevent “illegal and harmful activities” on online platforms, and follows the EU launching a multifaceted investigation into the X in December 2023.
In July 2024, the EU ruled that X had failed to comply with obligations around advertising transparency, data access for researchers and “dark patterns” – deceptive interface features designed to deceive users. X’s blue checkmark system was specifically called out for deceiving users by allowing anyone to pay to be “verified”, making it harder to determine the authenticity of X accounts. In today’s announcement, the European Commission said that although the DSA does not require user verification, “it clearly prevents online platforms from falsely claiming that users have been verified.”
“Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting down researchers online has no place in the EU,” Hanna Virkkunen, the bloc’s technology chief, said in a statement. “DSA protects users. DSA gives researchers a way to uncover potential threats. DSA restores trust in the online environment. With DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we are holding X accountable for undermining users’ rights and avoiding accountability.”
The EU can charge companies up to 6 percent of their global revenue for DSA violations. Since एक्स जुर्माने के खिलाफ अपील कर सकता है, लेकिन अब उसके पास नीले चेकमार्क के “भ्रामक” उपयोग को बदलने के लिए उठाए जाने वाले उपायों के बारे में यूरोपीय संघ को सूचित करने के लिए 60 कार्य दिवस हैं, और अन्य उल्लंघनों के लिए नियोजित सुधार के लिए 90 दिन हैं। Failure to meet those deadlines may result in higher penalty payments.
A 2023 investigation was also launched to investigate X’s moderation practices and the spread of illegal or harmful content on the platform, which is currently ongoing and may result in further fines.
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