This announcement comes two months after the opening of preliminary proceedings. This new step now allows the EU to take measures to force the social network to comply with European rules.
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It’s a first. The European Commission announced, Monday December 18, the opening of a “formal investigation” targeting the social network X (formerly Twitter) for alleged breaches of European rules on content moderation and transparency. On October 12, a preliminary investigation was opened against the social network of billionaire Elon Musk, five days after the Hamas attack on Israel, regarding “fake news”, “violent and terrorist content” And “hate speech”.
This is the first procedure “formal” under the new European legislation on digital services (DSA). “The days when large online platforms behaved as if they were too big to care about the rules are over”, declared the European Digital Commissioner, Thierry Breton. No deadline has been set for the ongoing investigation.
This procedure now allows the European executive to take measures to force X to comply with the rules, or to accept remedies proposed by the platform to respond to concerns. European legislation now provides for fines of up to 6% of the global turnover of the group in question. In the event of serious and repeated violations, a platform may even be banned from operating in the European Union.
