EU opens formal probe into Musk’s X in wake of Israel-Hamas war

London : The European Commission on Monday opened formal proceedings to assess whether Elon Musk’s X may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers.

The Commission opened the probe on the basis of preliminary investigation conducted so far across subjects, including “the dissemination of illegal content in the context of Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel”.

After the formal opening of proceedings, the Commission will continue to gather evidence, for example by sending additional requests for information, conducting interviews or inspections.

“If proven, these failures would constitute infringements of Articles 34(1), 34(2) and 35(1), 16(5) and 16(6), 25(1), 39 and 40(12) of the DSA. The Commission will carry out an in-depth investigation as a matter of priority,” it said in a statement.

The proceedings will focus on the compliance with the DSA obligations related to countering the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, notably in relation to the risk assessment and mitigation measures adopted by X to counter the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, as well as the functioning of the notice and action mechanism for illegal content in the EU mandated by the DSA, including in light of X's content moderation resources.

The probe will also look into the effectiveness of measures taken to combat information manipulation on the platform, notably the effectiveness of X's so-called ‘Community Notes' system in the EU and the effectiveness of related policies mitigating risks to civic discourse and electoral processes. These are the first formal proceedings launched by the Commission to enforce the first EU-wide horizontal framework for online platforms' responsibility, just 3 years after its proposal.

“The opening of formal proceedings empowers the Commission to take further enforcement steps, such as interim measures, and non-compliance decisions. The Commission is also empowered to accept any commitment made by X to remedy on the matters subject to the proceeding,” it added.