Commission sends preliminary findings to X for breach of the Digital Services Act
Today, the Commission has informed X of its preliminary view that it is in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers.
Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, Margrethe Vestager, said:
“Today we issue for the first time preliminary findings under the Digital Services Act. In our view, X does not comply with the DSA in key transparency areas, by using dark patterns and thus misleading users, by failing to provide an adequate ad repository, and by blocking access to data for researchers. The DSA has transparency at its very core, and we are determined to ensure that all platforms, including X, comply with EU legislation.”
Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said:
"Back in the day, BlueChecks used to mean trustworthy sources of information. Now with X, our preliminary view is that they deceive users and infringe the DSA. We also consider that X’s ads repository and conditions for data access by researchers are not in line with the DSA transparency requirements. X has now the right of defence — but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines and require significant changes."
If the Commission's preliminary views were to be ultimately confirmed, the Commission would adopt a non-compliance decision finding that X is in breach of Articles 25, 39 and 40(12) of the DSA. Such a decision could entail fines of up to 6% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the provider, and order the provider to take measures to address the breach.
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