The European Commission has imposed a €120 million fine on X for violating its transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The violations relate to the misleading design of its ‘blue checkmark’, insufficient transparency in its advertising repository, and its failure to provide researchers with access to public data.
According to the Commission, X’s use of the ‘blue checkmark’ to denote ‘verified accounts’ misleads users, breaching the DSA requirement that online platforms must avoid deceptive design practices.
Additionally, the platform’s advertising repository does not comply with the DSA’s accessibility and transparency standards. Such repositories must be easily accessible and searchable so that researchers and civil society can identify scams, hybrid threat operations, coordinated information campaigns and fraudulent advertisements.
The Commission stated that X includes design elements and access barriers, such as excessive processing delays, that undermine the purpose of maintaining a functioning ad repository. It also noted that the repository lacks key information, including ad content, ad topics and details about the paying legal entity, preventing researchers and the public from thoroughly assessing potential risks in online advertising.
The fine was determined based on the nature and seriousness of the infringements, their impact on EU users and the duration of the violations.
X now has 60 working days to inform the Commission of the concrete steps it will take to stop violating Article 25(1) of the DSA, which concerns the deceptive use of blue checkmarks.
(Inputs from WAM)
