Elon Musk Accuses European Commission of Offering Illegal Deal to Censor Speech on X Platform

In a recent social media outburst, X CTO and chairman Elon Musk accused the European Commission of offering an “illegal secret deal” to the social media platform. Musk claimed that the EC proposed that X should censor speech quietly to avoid fines in the European Union. This accusation came after the EC published preliminary findings of an investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA), highlighting X’s non-compliance in key transparency areas.

European Commission’s Investigation

The European Commission’s investigation revealed that X breached the DSA in several crucial areas. These breaches included dark patterns, advertising transparency, and data access for researchers. The report pointed out that X’s “Blue checkmarks” and verified accounts can be obtained by anyone, leading to deception and abuse by bad actors. Additionally, the platform lacks a reliable advertising repository and hinders supervision and research about risks. X’s terms of service ban scraping and its API access process discourages researchers with high fees.

Next Steps

The European Commission has allowed X to exercise its rights of defense through a written response. The EC will further consult with the European Board for Digital Services before making a final decision on the matter. If found guilty of non-compliance, X could face fines of up to 6% of its worldwide annual turnover. Compliance with the DSA would be necessary for X to continue operating in the EU, potentially leading to enhanced supervision and penalty payments.

Elon Musk’s accusations against the European Commission have sparked a public outcry and set the stage for a legal battle in court. The findings of the investigation shed light on X’s alleged failures in transparency and data access. The outcome of this dispute could have significant implications for X’s operations in the EU and its approach to content moderation and user data. It remains to be seen how X will respond to these allegations and whether the platform will take steps to address the issues highlighted by the European Commission.