Musk’s X to Alter Verification System in Europe, Commission Says

Elon Musk's X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, has agreed to change its verification mechanism in the European Union following a fine of EUR 120 million ($138 million).

“X has submitted remedies in relation to its blue check mark,” European Commission spokesperson Thomas Régnier said, referring to the system that identifies verified users on X. “The commission will now carefully assess the proposed remedies.”

Régnier didn't provide details on how X intends to tailor its service for European users. X didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.

In December, the commission fined X under its content moderation rulebook, the Digital Services Act, alleging that its system of giving verification badges to paying users was deceptive.

The blue check badge was previously only added to the profiles of people who might be targets for impersonation, including journalists, celebrities and other public figures. Musk's 2022 decision to make it a for-pay feature, the commission argued, misled X users into falsely believing that verified accounts were trustworthy. Musk, the world's richest person, acquired Twitter for $44 billion that same year.

The blue check was one of the grievances that last year resulted in the first-ever DSA fine. Other alleged breaches included X's lack of transparency with its ads and a refusal to let independent researchers access the platform's public data.

X was asked to propose remedies for the blue check problem by March 12 or face periodic penalties. The company, which has appealed the fine, will have to either pay the fine or provide a financial guarantee by March 16.

The EU's decision to fine a business owned by Musk, an ally of US President Donald Trump, precipitated a trans-Atlantic diplomatic spat whose aftershocks are still being felt in Brussels.

Members of the Trump administration, including Vice President JD Vance, have accused the EU of censorship and issued visa bans against former European commissioner Thierry Breton and anti-disinformation activists. The France-born Breton, Europe's tech czar until 2024, had often clashed with Musk over X's compliance with the DSA.

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