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The European Union (EU) has formally launched infringement proceedings against Elon Musk–owned microblogging site ‘X’. The European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton said they have opened the legal proceedings on suspicion of breach of obligations to counter illegal content and disinformation.
The European Commission opened formal infringement proceedings against the company, two months after warning the company over how it handled harmful content on its site, Thierry Breton announced via a post on X.
“Today we open formal infringement proceedings against @X:
⚠️ Suspected breach of obligations to counter #IllegalContent and #Disinformation
⚠️ Suspected breach of #Transparency obligations
⚠️ Suspected #DeceptiveDesign of user interface” Breton tweeted.
Elon Musk‘s X is also being probed because it’s suspected of not following transparency obligations and having a user interface with a deceptive design, the European Union commissioner wrote.
Earlier, Elon Musk had informed that he is considering removing the service from Europe in response to a new internet platform regulation in the region.
The EU’s Digital Services Act gives the EU new powers to take action against major tech companies for how they handle content on their platforms.
Launched in 2018, the EU’s code of practice on disinformation counts nearly three dozen signatories including the giants in the sector such as Meta, Google, Twitter, Microsoft and TikTok.
Companies that fail to comply could eventually face fines as high as 6% of annual revenue or even be banned from the bloc if they repeatedly break the rules.
In May this year, Elon Musk‘s X (formerly Twitter) decided to leave the EU’s disinformation code, a voluntary pact that groups together the major social platforms. However, Breton had then mentioned that the social media platform’s “obligations remain”.
Since buying the social network ‘X’, billionaire Elon Musk has relaxed the moderation of problematic content, which appears to have amplified the voices of notorious propagators of disinformation on the platform.
(With agency inputs)
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Published: 18 Dec 2023, 05:32 PM IST
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