EU takes action against Elon Musk's X over disinformation
EU takes action against Elon Musk's X over disinformation
The EU says it is launching "formal enforcement proceedings" against the social media platform.
When some people have argued that there is no use for EU, I have used its handling of technology giants as a counter-argument.
Hey look! Governments that aren't 100% solely beholden to corporate interests!
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The European Union has formally announced it suspects X, previously known as Twitter, of breaching its rules in areas including countering illegal content and disinformation.
"X is focused on creating a safe and inclusive environment for all users on our platform, while protecting freedom of expression, and we will continue to work tirelessly towards this goal," it added.
These are the first formal proceedings launched under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the tough new rules for big tech firms the EU has introduced.
"Today, we opened formal proceedings against X based on several suspected infringements of the Digital Services Act," EU Commission spokesman Johannes Bahrke said.
However, concerns about the nature of the content appearing on X have intensified since it was bought by Elon Musk - in part because he laid off many of its moderators - with the European Commission previously warning it had the biggest disinformation problem of any major platform.
In the US, controversy over extremist material appearing on the site has led to an advertising boycott, a bitter row between Mr Musk and a campaign group, and even questions about whether X could end up going bankrupt.
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