The EU has formally started its case against Elon Musk's online community X under the Digital Services Act after they first issued a warning in October this year.
This is the DSA law that covers Elon Musk's company X
We have mentioned a number of times the law which officially comes into force next year and which was approved last summer. "In 2024 the web will change," we wrote in April of the same year:
“The Digital Services Act is yet another major piece of legislation from the EU to take much greater action on what the big technology giants do with data and what is shown. The DSA Act is not the same as the Digital Markets Act (which may come into force next year) which we wrote about in late March, but both will likely to have major implications. The EU wants the companies to take tougher action against the spread of misinformation, without it being explained who will decide what is correct and what is wrong. This law will be particularly important during crises, according to the EU."
The aim is to give them greater responsibility in stopping illegal online content, and "very large online platforms that reach more than 10 percent of the 450 million consumers in the EU and which can therefore pose a particular risk in the spread of illegal content and harm society. " Content that is removed must be justified, and an appeals process has been built into it.
The EU is now starting the investigations
Now the EU reports that it is filing a case against the company based on paragraphs related to "risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers," but the EU is also dissatisfied with the content served on the platform, and specifically criticizes the content around Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel:
"...regarding the spread of illegal content in connection with Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel, the commission has decided to open formal infringement proceedings against X in accordance with the Digital Services Act."
The EU says it will investigate the following areas related to, among other things, manipulation:
Compliance with the DSA obligations related to countering the spread of illegal content in the EU, in particular in relation to the risk assessment and mitigation measures adopted by X to counter the spread of illegal content in the EU, as well as the function of the notice and action mechanism for illegal content in the EU imposed by DSA, included in light of X's content moderation resources.
The effectiveness of measures taken to combat information manipulation on the platform, in particular, the effectiveness of X's so-called "Community Notes" system in the EU and the effectiveness of related guidelines that reduce the risk of public discourse and electoral processes.
The measures taken by X to increase the transparency of the platform. The investigation concerns suspected deficiencies in providing researchers with access to X's publicly available data pursuant to Article 40 of the DSA, as well as deficiencies in X's advertising inventory.
A suspected deceptive design of the user interface, especially in relation to tick marks linked to certain subscription products, the so-called blue checks.
X is in the group the EU refers to as a "Very Large Online Platform," abbreviated as VLOP. Therefore, X must comply with the following requirements in all EU countries:
Pursuant to Articles 34(1), 34(2), and 35(1), VLOPs are obliged to thoroughly identify, analyze and assess any systemic risks in the Union arising from the design or functioning of their service and associated systems, or from the use of their services.
When conducting risk assessments, VLOPs shall take into account a number of factors affecting systemic risk, including recommendation systems, advertising systems, or intentional manipulation of the service, including through fraudulent use or automated exploitation of the service, as well as the amplification and potentially rapid and widespread dissemination of illegal content and information which is inconsistent with their terms and conditions. VLOPs are committed to putting in place reasonable, proportionate, and effective mitigation measures, tailored to the specific systemic risks identified.
Pursuant to Articles 16(5) and 16(6), online platforms must notify individuals or entities without undue delay of decisions on content moderation, and provide information on the options for redress in connection with this decision; platforms shall make such decisions in a timely, careful, non-arbitrary and objective manner.
According to Article 25 No. 1, online platforms shall not design, organize, or operate their online interfaces in a way that deceives or manipulates users or in a way that otherwise significantly distorts or weakens the ability of users of their service to do free . and informed decisions.
According to Article 39, VLOPs must compile and make publicly available through a searchable and reliable tool an archive containing advertisements on their platforms, until one year after the advertisement was presented for the last time, in a way that the information is accurate and complete.
Pursuant to Article 40(12), VLOPs must provide researchers with effective access to platform data.
It is important to point out that the EU has not concluded, but is starting an investigation based on the sections of the DSA Act mentioned above. The EU points out that they are prioritizing the matter which they will "thoroughly investigate." There is no deadline, so we do not know when the commission will reach its conclusion.