The European Commission announced a €120 million fine on X for violating transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The ruling revealed serious breaches, including the misleading use of the “blue checkmark” and gaps in ad repository transparency.

The Commission reported that the violations included the deceptive design of the blue checkmark, weak transparency in the advertising repository, and the failure to provide public data access for researchers. Users may have been misled about what “verified accounts” actually represent.

Moreover, regulators found that X’s use of the blue checkmark violated DSA rules prohibiting deceptive design practices, undermining user trust in verified profiles. The ad repository also failed to meet accessibility and transparency standards, limiting researchers’ ability to detect scams, hybrid threat campaigns, and fake advertisements.

Investigators revealed that X introduced access barriers, including excessive processing delays, and that its repository lacked key information, such as the content, topic, and paying legal entity for ads. These gaps hinder independent scrutiny of potential risks in online advertising.

The fine was calculated based on the nature of the infringements, their severity, the number of affected EU users, and the duration of the violations. X has 60 working days to report the corrective measures it plans to take to end the infringement of Article 25(1) of the DSA related to the deceptive blue checkmarks.

This case highlights how EU fines X for violating transparency rules and signals stricter enforcement of digital platform accountability across Europe, emphasizing that major online services must comply with the DSA or face significant penalties.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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