The European Commission recently announced its preliminary view that X, formerly known as Twitter, is in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas related to dark patterns, advertising transparency, and data access for researchers.
Transparency and accountability in content moderation and advertising are noted to be central to the DSA.
Following a comprehensive investigation, which included the analysis of internal company documents, expert interviews, and collaboration with national Digital Services Coordinators, the Commission stated that it identified three key areas of non-compliance:
- Deceptive Verified Accounts: the commission claimed X’s design and operation of its “verified accounts” with the “Blue checkmark” do not align with industry practices and deceive users. The ease of obtaining a “verified” status allows malicious actors to misuse the feature, impairing users’ ability to make informed decisions about account authenticity and content.
- Advertising Transparency: The commission noted that X fails to provide a searchable and reliable advertisement repository. Instead, it employs design features and access barriers that undermine the repository’s transparency purpose, hindering supervision and research into online advertising risks.
- Data Access for Researchers: the commission said X does not comply with DSA conditions for granting researchers access to its public data. The platform prohibits eligible researchers from scraping public data and imposes high fees and discouraging processes for API access, obstructing independent research efforts.
The Commission’s preliminary findings inform X of its view that the platform is in breach of the DSA.
X has the opportunity to examine the investigation documents and respond in writing to these findings. Concurrently, the European Board for Digital Services will be consulted.
“We issue for the first time preliminary findings under the Digital Services Act. In our view, X does not comply with the DSA in key transparency areas, by using dark patterns and thus misleading users, by failing to provide an adequate ad repository, and by blocking access to data for researchers. The DSA has transparency at its very core, and we are determined to ensure that all platforms, including X, comply with EU legislation,” stated Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age.
On his part, Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market noted, “Back in the day, BlueChecks used to mean trustworthy sources of information. Now with X, our preliminary view is that they deceive users and infringe the DSA. We also consider that X’s ads repository and conditions for data access by researchers are not in line with the DSA transparency requirements. X has now the right of defence — but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines and require significant changes.”
If confirmed, the Commission may issue a non-compliance decision against X, citing breaches of Articles 25, 39, and 40(12) of the DSA. This decision could result in fines of up to 6% of X’s total worldwide annual turnover and mandate measures to address the violations. Additionally, the Commission may impose periodic penalty payments and an enhanced supervision period to ensure compliance.
X was designated as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) on 25 April 2023, after declaring over 45 million monthly active users in the EU. On 18 December 2023, the Commission opened formal proceedings to investigate potential DSA breaches related to illegal content dissemination, information manipulation, dark patterns, advertising transparency, and data access for researchers.
The Commission has also implemented a whistleblower tool for anonymous reporting by employees and others with relevant knowledge, aiding in monitoring compliance by VLOPs and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs).
In addition to X, the Commission opened formal proceedings against TikTok in February and April 2024, AliExpress in March 2024, and Meta in April and May 2024.