The company could be fined up to 6 percent of its total worldwide annual turnover if the findings are later confirmed.

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Musk and his social media platform now have the right to defend themselves to regulators in the European Commission to avoid penalties or enhanced supervision [Alain Jocard/AFP]

Elon Musk’s social media platform X is in breach of the European Union’s online content law, according to preliminary findings by regulators that could lead to hefty fines for the company.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-member bloc, announced on Friday that the social media platform is violating the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to “dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers”.

The investigation, which opened in December, arrived at its preliminary findings by analysing internal company documents and interviewing experts. The DSA requires large online platforms and search engines to do more to tackle illegal content and risks to public security.

It found that X, formerly Twitter, uses its “blue checkmark” in a way that does not correspond to industry practices and “deceives users”.

“Since anyone can subscribe to obtain such a ‘verified’ status, it negatively affects users’ ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts and the content they interact with. There is evidence of motivated malicious actors abusing the ‘verified account’ to deceive users,” the commission said.

It found that X does not comply with the required transparency on advertising, refusing to provide a searchable and reliable advertisement repository.

X was also found to have failed in providing independent access to public data to researchers in line with the DSA and to have designed its process to grant eligible researchers access to its application programming interface (API) in a way that dissuades researchers.

Musk pushed back against the European Commission announcement. The commission, he said, had “offered X an illegal secret deal” that involved a quid pro quo — the company would not be fined if it agreed to quietly censor speech. “The other platforms accepted that deal. X did not,” Musk wrote on X.

The company will now have an opportunity to review the findings in detail and submit a formal response.

“X has now the right of defence – but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines and require significant changes,” European Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a statement – posted on X.

If the findings are ultimately confirmed, a noncompliance verdict could entail fines of up to 6 percent of the total worldwide annual turnover of the company. Musk delisted the company after buying Twitter in 2022, meaning its financial performance data are no longer publicly available.

The commission could also impose periodic penalty payments and implement periods of enhanced supervision.

“The DSA has transparency at its very core, and we are determined to ensure that all platforms, including X, comply with EU legislation,” commission official Margrethe Vestager said.

In 2024, the commission also opened formal proceedings against TikTok, Chinese site AliExpress and Meta.