EU Commission Sends Preliminary Findings to X for DSA Violations

On 12 July 2024, the EU Commission issued preliminary findings indicating that X is in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA). This notification highlights several areas of non-compliance related to dark patterns, advertising transparency, and data access for researchers.

The alleged infringements

The DSA mandates transparency and accountability in content moderation and advertising. The Commission’s investigation, which included analyzing company documents and consulting experts, found three primary grievances against X:

1. Verified Accounts:
   • X’s “Blue checkmark” verification misleads users by allowing anyone to obtain verified status. This practice undermines users’ ability to make informed decisions about account authenticity and exposes them to potential deception by malicious actors.
2. Advertising Transparency:
   • X’s ad repository lacks the necessary transparency. The design features and access barriers make it unfit for proper supervision and research into online advertising risks. The repository’s inefficiency fails to meet the DSA’s transparency requirements.
3. Data Access for Researchers:
   • X restricts researchers from accessing public data as required by the DSA. Terms of service prohibit independent data scraping, and the API access process is prohibitively expensive, deterring research.

Next Steps

X has the opportunity to review the Commission’s findings and defend itself. The European Board for Digital Services will also be consulted. If the findings are upheld, X may face a non-compliance decision, potential fines up to 6% of its worldwide turnover, and mandated corrective actions. An enhanced supervision period could be imposed to ensure compliance, with periodic penalties for non-compliance.

You can find the press release here.