Elon Musk lifts lid on 'illegal deal' proposed by EU Commission to censor X
X owner Elon Musk
Getty
Elon Musk has claimed the European Commission offered X a deal that they would escape a fine if they "quietly censored speech."
The owner of the social media site, formerly known as Twitter, has hit back at the ruling from EU tech regulators that X breached European Union online content rules and its blue checkmark deceives users.
Musk said: "The European Commission offered X an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us. The other platforms accepted that deal. X did not."
EU industry chief Thierry Breton hit back at Musk's claims, saying: "Be our guest...There has never been, and will never be, any 'secret deal'. With anyone. The DSA provides X (and any large platform) with the possibility to offer commitments to settle a case."
X owner Elon Musk
Getty
Breton added: "Up to you to decide whether to offer commitments or not. That is how rule of law procedures work. See you (in court or not)"
The Commission said X's verified accounts which carry a blue checkmark do not correspond to industry practice and negatively affect users' ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts they interact with.
After buying the platform then known as Twitter in 2022, Musk altered the use of the blue checkmark, which previously indicated that an account belonged to a public figure whose identity was verified but was changed to indicate it belonged to a paid subscriber.
The commission said X had also failed to comply with a DSA requirement to provide searchable and reliable information about advertisements in a library for easy access.
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The controversial billionaire has hit back at the Commission
Musk was praised by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who said: "Elon Musk reveals the truth about the EU. What a guy."
The commission said X had also failed to comply with a DSA requirement to provide searchable and reliable information about advertisements in a library for easy access.
X was also charged with blocking researchers from accessing its public data.
The company, which will have several months to respond to the charges, could face a fine of as much as six per cent of its global turnover if found guilty of breaching the DSA.
Breton said in a statement: "X has now the right of defence — but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines and require significant changes."
The Commission said separate investigations continue into the dissemination of illegal content on X and measures it has taken to counter disinformation.
TikTok, AliExpress and Meta are also being investigated under the DSA.
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