Elon Musk’s

Elon Musk’s social media site, formerly known as Twitter, is under fire in the European Union after a two-year investigation into the platform’s practices. The European Commission on Friday fined the company 120 million euros ($140 million) for numerous violations of EU regulations, including what it calls the “deceptive design” of the blue X.

“In press release. “This scam exposes users to scams, including impersonation scams, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors.”

Regulators found that X violated EU standards Digital Services LawWhich governs the behavior of Internet platforms operating in the region. The law does not require online services to verify people’s identities, but it does require them not to use deceptive design practices.

This is the latest chapter in an ongoing power struggle between Europe and Silicon Valley tech companies, which often find the EU’s approach to regulation too burdensome. The relationship has become more tense after repeated criticism from the current US presidential administration, which accuses the bloc of targeting American companies and imposing unfair censorship on them.

X did not respond to a request for comment on the fine, but Musk retweeted a post

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Lack of transparency

Other violations of the Digital Services Act that led to the fine include X’s failure to meet EU transparency and accessibility requirements regarding its ad repository and its failure to provide researchers with access to public data.

Tik Tok Evade a similar fine On Friday, after the Commission accepted the company’s commitments to improve advertising transparency.

The European Commission’s chief technology officer, Hanna Virkkonen, defended the Digital Services Act and the decision to issue the X fine, saying that the Digital Services Act protects users and provides researchers with a way to detect potential threats.

“DSA restores trust in the online environment,” Virkkonen said. “With the DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we hold X accountable for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability.”

Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, praised the decision to fine X, which X tried to sue in 2023 over its attempts to study the platform.

“Researchers should be free to study how powerful platforms are in shaping our information environment,” he said. “X has tried to hide how it manipulates the algorithm and empower hostile countries, fraudsters, and extremists. Now, European regulators have confirmed that this behavior is illegal, and that transparency is not optional if X wishes to continue doing business in Europe.”