EU expands investigation into social platform X

The Commission has requested that X submit internal documentation related to its recommender systems, including any recent modifications, by Feb. 15.

BRUSSELS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission is taking further steps to clarify the compliance of social media platform X's recommender systems with the obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said Friday.

The Commission has requested that X submit internal documentation related to its recommender systems, including any recent modifications, by Feb. 15. Additionally, X has been asked to preserve internal documents concerning the design and functioning of these algorithms until the end of the year, unless the investigation concludes earlier.

The Commission has also sought access to specific commercial APIs from X. These technical interfaces will allow for a direct examination of content moderation practices and the mechanisms driving account virality.

The investigation into X commenced in December 2023. By July 2024, the Commission's preliminary findings indicated that X had violated the DSA in several areas, including the use of dark patterns, lack of advertising transparency, and restricted data access for researchers.

X's owner, Elon Musk, has recently clashed with EU regulators. Some European politicians have accused him of election interference, pointing to his livestreamed discussion with the leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). ■