On Friday, the EU fined X €120 million (about $140 million) for violating the Digital Services Act (DSA). This was the first time that a company was fined for violating the law. Elon Musk responded with his trademark strategy and commercialism by posting “nonsense” on X in response to the European Commission’s announcement. But that wasn’t the end, because just a day later X’s head of product Nikita Bear accused the Commission of abusing an exploit to increase the reach of the announcement and responded by closing his advertising account.
According to Beers, the Commission had not used its advertising account since 2021, but used a post format explicitly reserved for advertisements in the announcement of the fine against X. They claim that the Commission “posted a link that deceives users into thinking it is a video and to artificially increase its reach.” (For the record, the post also includes a video.)
The retaliatory cancellation of the European Commission’s advertising account is unlikely to materially change things for Ax or the EU. If, as Beare claims, the Commission has not used its advertising account since 2021, holding it hostage is unlikely to provide any benefit to X. And, although he can appeal the decision, Additionally, it must also provide details on how it plans to address the “deceptive” use of the verified checkmark over the next 60 days, or face additional penalties.
We have contacted the commission for comment and will update if we hear back.
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