The European Commission has imposed its first fine under Europe’s landmark Digital Services Act, and it is against Elon Musk’s X. The EC is taking issue with the fact that X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, has been allowing anyone to purchase a “blue checkmark.” This symbol was long-standing and used to indicate that a user had been verified to be who they claimed to be.
Calling the design of the blue checkmark system deceptive, the European Union’s executive arm imposed a fine of 120 million euros on Friday. The Commission stated the company breached its transparency obligations under the DSA. Other breaches of the law cited include a lack of transparency in X’s advertising repository and a failure to provide researchers with access to public data.
Before Musk bought the company, Twitter issued blue checks to journalists, celebrities, politicians, and public figures after verifying their identity. Musk did away with that policy in 2023. Today, a blue check merely indicates that a user subscribes to X Premium and meets certain eligibility criteria, such as having a profile photo and a linked phone number.
The Commission stated that X’s use of the blue checkmark for verified accounts deceives users. This violates the DSA obligation for online platforms to prohibit deceptive design practices. On X, anyone can pay for the verified status without meaningful verification of who is behind the account, making it difficult for users to judge the authenticity of accounts and content. The Commission added that such a system exposes users to scams, impersonation fraud, and manipulation.
The regulator also found that X’s advertisement repository does not comply with DSA requirements for transparency and accessibility, citing excessive delays in processing access requests. The repository also lacks important information like ad content or who paid for the ads, which hinders independent scrutiny of potential risks in online advertising.
Access to public data is another area of concern. The DSA mandates that platforms allow researchers access to public data to study systemic risks. The investigation found that X does not allow researchers to independently do this and imposes unnecessary barriers, undermining research into systemic risks in the European Union.
The decision comes two years after the EC launched an investigation into the company on suspected breaches of rules linked to risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency, and data access for researchers.
An executive vice-president for the European Commission stated that deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads, and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU.
X now has 60 days to outline how it intends to address the complaint about the blue checkmarks, and 90 days to respond with an action plan for addressing the breaches relating to ads and public data transparency. Confirmed breaches of the DSA can face sanctions including fines of up to 6% of global annual turnover.