{"id":62702,"date":"2025-12-06T11:22:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T11:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/eu-fines-elon-musks-x-140-million-for-transparency-breach"},"modified":"2025-12-06T11:25:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T11:25:06","slug":"eu-fines-elon-musks-x-140-million-for-transparency-breach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/eu-fines-elon-musks-x-140-million-for-transparency-breach","title":{"rendered":"EU Fines Elon Musk’s X $140 Million for Transparency Breach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong> <\/span>The European Commission has issued a \u20ac120 million (nearly $140 million) fine against Elon Musk’s US-based social media company X for multiple breaches of the EU\u2019s Digital Services Act (DSA), marking the first non-compliance decision under the landmark regulation.<\/p>\n

According to the commission, X misled users through the \u201cdeceptive design\u201d of its blue checkmark feature, failed to meet transparency requirements for its advertising repository, and blocked researchers from accessing public data.<\/p>\n

The commission found that X\u2019s blue checkmark system\u2014where users can pay for \u201cverified\u201d status\u2014misrepresents verification.<\/p>\n

This, regulators said, exposes users to scams and impersonation, violating Article 25(1) of the DSA, which prohibits deceptive design practices.<\/p>\n

X also fell short on obligations for advertising transparency. Its ad repository reportedly includes design barriers such as long processing delays and lacks key information, including ad content, topic, and paying entities, it noted.<\/p>\n

These gaps limit researchers\u2019 ability to monitor scams, coordinated influence operations and other risks.<\/p>\n

In addition, X\u2019s rules and processes for accessing public data\u2014such as restrictions on scraping\u2014were deemed to impose \u201cunnecessary barriers,\u201d obstructing research into systemic risks across the EU.<\/p>\n

The fine reflects the scale, impact and duration of the infringements, the commission said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU. The DSA protects users. The DSA gives researchers the way to uncover potential threats. The DSA restores trust in the online environment. With the DSA\u2019s first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users\u2019 rights and evading accountability,\u201d said Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy.<\/p>\n

X now has 60 working days to outline how it will fix the deceptive checkmark system, and 90 days to submit an action plan addressing ad transparency and researcher data access. Failure to comply may trigger additional penalties.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Mauritius<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. The European Commission has issued a \u20ac120 million (nearly $140 million) fine against Elon Musk’s US-based social media company X for multiple breaches of the EU\u2019s Digital Services Act (DSA), marking the first non-compliance decision under the landmark regulation. According to the commission, X misled users through the \u201cdeceptive design\u201d of its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":62701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[3381,241,2714],"class_list":["post-62702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-european-commission","tag-mauritius","tag-x"],"yoast_head":"\nEU Fines Elon Musk's X $140 Million for Transparency Breach - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag"> Africa-Press - Mauritius. 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