Digital Services Act

The European Commission is investigating X (formerly Twitter) over concerns that its AI chatbot, Grok, has generated and spread illegal sexually explicit material, including child abuse imagery. This probe, under the Digital Services Act, will assess X’s risk mitigation efforts. Authorities in the UK, India, and Malaysia are also examining Grok’s output. This adds to an existing EU investigation into X’s recommendation system, following a substantial fine for transparency violations.

The U.S. State Department has imposed visa restrictions on former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton and four individuals involved in anti-disinformation efforts. The U.S. alleges these individuals orchestrated campaigns pressuring American social media platforms to censor or demonetize viewpoints. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the move as targeting “agents of the global censorship-industrial complex.” Breton, a proponent of the EU’s Digital Services Act, countered on X, stating, “To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is.'” The bans highlight transatlantic disagreements on free speech and online regulation.

The EU has launched an antitrust probe into Google’s use of copyrighted web and YouTube content to train its AI models, examining whether the firm imposes unfair terms on publishers, grants itself privileged data access, and disadvantages rival AI developers. The investigation could lead to mandatory licensing schemes that compensate creators. It follows recent EU enforcement actions against U.S. tech firms, including fines on X and a probe into Meta’s WhatsApp data use, highlighting growing regulatory scrutiny of Big Tech’s data practices in Europe.

words.The European Commission fined Elon Musk’s platform X €120 million for a deceptive blue‑verification badge, opaque advertising data, and denying researcher access, citing Digital Services Act breaches. Musk responded with hostile remarks, urging EU abolition, while U.S. officials condemned the penalty as regulatory overreach. X must submit a verification remedial plan within 60 days and address ad‑repository transparency within 90 days, facing further penalties for non‑compliance. The fine highlights mounting EU regulation, forcing X to revamp its identity‑management and ad‑tech systems, with broader trade‑policy ramifications.

words.The EU has fined X (formerly Twitter) €120 million for breaching the Digital Services Act, citing a misleading blue verification badge, an opaque advertising repository, and denial of researcher access to public data. X has 60 days to redesign the check‑mark UI and 90 days to overhaul its ads API and provide secure data endpoints, or face additional penalties. The sanction coincides with an EU antitrust probe of Meta and highlights the bloc’s tough stance on “big tech,” prompting X to address compliance, advertiser trust, and technical challenges quickly.

The European Commission preliminarily finds TikTok and Meta possibly violated the Digital Services Act (DSA) due to inadequate data access for researchers. Meta’s Facebook and Instagram allegedly lack effective mechanisms for reporting illegal content. Both companies dispute the findings, citing efforts to comply. TikTok also raises concerns about DSA-GDPR conflicts. The EU emphasizes data access for understanding social impacts. If violations are upheld, fines could reach 6% of global turnover. This underscores increasing EU regulatory pressure on Big Tech to promote transparency and user rights.