The European Commission on Friday slapped a €120 million fine on Elon Musk’s social media platform X for breaching transparency obligations related to its “blue checkmark” and to advertising.

The commission said the blue checkmark for “verified accounts” on the social media platform deceives users because anyone can buy it “without the company meaningfully verifying who is behind the account, making it difficult for users to judge the authenticity of accounts and content they engage with.”

This “exposes users to scams, including impersonation frauds, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors,” the commission said.

The platform formerly known as Twitter was awarding the blue badges without charges to verified official accounts. But Elon Musk changed the policy after acquiring the company, in 2022, issuing checkmarks to premium subscribers.

Another issue raised by the commission is the lack of “critical information” in the X ad repository, including the content and topic of the advertisement and the entity paying for it, which are required under EU rules to ensure transparency, especially in political campaigns.

The Commission also said x fails to provide access to the platform’s public data for researchers, “effectively undermining research into several systemic risks in the European Union.”

The fine is the first penalty imposed by the commission over breaches of the EU Digital Services Act (DSA). The regulation was adopted in 2022 to establish transparency obligations in order to address the spread of disinformation, illegal content and misleading practices on large online platforms.

It also sought to harmonise a growing body of different national laws in this area. The rules apply to social networks, online marketplaces, content sharing platforms, app stores, and online travel and accommodation platforms.

Tech, sovereignty, security and democracy commissioner Henna Virkkunen said on Friday that the DSA is restoring trust in the online environment. “With the DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability,” she said.

Sixty days

X now has now 60 working days to inform the commission of how it intends to comply with EU rules regarding the use of blue checkmarks, and 90 days regarding the advertising repository and researchers’ access to public data.

Failure to take action may lead to further penalties. Under the DSA fines can be up to 6% of a company’s global annual turnover.

The commission decision is further straining relationships with the US. In reaction to the announcement, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on the social media channel that the “European Commission’s $140 million fine isn’t just an attack on X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments. The days of censoring Americans online are over.”

Wilders

European far-right figures also criticised the commission decision. Dutch far right leader Geert Wilders posted on Saturday: “Nobody elected you. You represent no one. You are a totalitarian institution and can’t event spell the words freedom of speech. We should not accept the fining of X, but abolish the EU commission.”

Last year, some 500,000 people and several media organisations in the Netherlands left X over concerns about the spread of hate speech and disinformation. Broadcaster NOS has also recently quit.

A recent survey by statistics agency CBS has shown that faith in the veracity of information circulated on social media is declining, with 63% of doubters this year compared to 54% in 2021.