X has deactivated the European Commission’s advertising account after the commission fined the social network 120 million euros for violating the DSA three times.
X, formerly Twitter, and its big boss are reacting with all the grace of an angry teenager to the 120 million euro fine imposed on the social network by the European Commission. Owner Elon Musk calls the fine ‘Bullshit’ and asks/states: ‘How long before the EU disappears? Abolish the EU.’
3 infringements
The fine is nevertheless the result of three flagrant violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA). This is part of the European rules that X must comply with if it wants to provide services and make money from the 450 million inhabitants of the EU.
After investigation, the commission finds that:
- The blue checkmark, after the acquisition by Musk obtainable through payment and not identity verification, is misleading;
- The advertising library does not meet the clear requirements regarding transparency;
- Researchers do not get sufficient access to public data.
Not only Musk is angry that he has to abide by the laws of the area in which he wants to do business. Nikita Bier, Head of Product at X, states immediately after the fine is handed out that it is actually the European Commission that is not following the rules.
read also
X receives EU’s first DSA fine: 120 million euros for triple violation of rules
The Commission would do this by indirectly increasing the reach of its own posts in Ad Composer. He then suspended the European Commission’s advertising account. Bier adds that the detour in question has been patched.
Expectations and suspension
The European Commission itself indicates that it always uses all social media in good faith. A spokesperson told TechCrunch: “The Commission simply uses the tools that the platforms themselves make available to our business accounts. This was also the case with X’s ‘Post Composer’ tool. We expect the tools offered to comply with both the platform’s own rules and our legislative framework.”
The spokesperson adds that the Commission has not placed any paid advertisements on X since October 2023 and that this suspension is still active.