European Commission Says 'Blue Tick' on X is Opaque and Misleading

The European Commission has accused the platform X (formerly Twitter) of deceiving users through its 'blue tick' and failing to adhere to transparency regulations. This marks the first legal action by the European Commission against a major tech company under the 'Digital Services Act', which aims to protect the rights of EU citizens and prevent the spread of harmful content on social media. Following extensive investigations, the Commission stated that the blue tick, which previously indicated the identity of notable users, has now become a misleading tool. Elon Musk, after purchasing Twitter, offered this tick to all users for a monthly fee of eight dollars. According to the European Commission, this move has undermined the credibility of the blue tick and misleads users in verifying the accuracy of information. Additionally, the Commission accused X of obstructing researchers' access to data and lacking transparency regarding advertising information. If X fails to address the European Commission's objections, it may face formal actions and hefty fines of up to 6% of its global revenue. Given that X is a private company, the exact amount of this fine is unclear. Elon Musk reacted sharply to these accusations, accusing the European Commission of proposing an 'illegal deal for content censorship'. He also threatened legal action, claiming that the Commission's actions would reveal the truth to the public. The competitor to X has turned one year old, surpassing 175 million monthly active users. The display of likes has been removed on X, with the goal of 'better protecting' user privacy. The social network X permanently blocked the account of the news agency 'Mizan'. The social network X removed the blue tick from the accounts of state media of the Islamic Republic.