Image source: Getty Images
- Author:
- Role: BBC Business reporter
-
Elon Musk’s social media site X has been accused by the European Union of breaching its online content rules, with its “verified” blue tick accounts having the potential to “deceive” users.
The bloc’s tech regulator said users could be duped into thinking the identity of those with blue tick marks was verified, when in fact anybody can pay for a blue tick. It said it had found evidence of “malicious actors” abusing the system.
The investigation began under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
It could lead to X being fined up to 6% of its global annual turnover and being forced to change how it operates in the bloc.
Mr Musk reacted angrily: “The DSA is misinformation,” he wrote on X.
The billionaire, who bought the platform for $44bn in 2022, said the DSA rules amounted to “censored speech” which he said he found unacceptable.
X chief executive Linda Yaccarino also defended the company’s practices.
“A democratised system, allowing everyone across Europe to access verification, is better than just the privileged few being verified,” she wrote on the social media site.
