Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and proprietor of social media website X, previously referred to as Twitter, attends the Viva Expertise convention devoted to innovation and startups on the Porte de Versailles exhibition heart in Paris, France, on June 16, 2023.
Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters
The European Union is looking for info from social media platform X about cuts to its content material moderation sources as a part of its first main investigation into the corporate beneath its powerful new legal guidelines governing on-line content material.
The European Fee, the EU government arm, stated in an announcement Wednesday that it is requested info from X beneath the Digital Companies Act, its groundbreaking tech legislation which requires on-line platforms to take a far stricter method to policing unlawful and dangerous content material on their platforms.
The Fee stated it was involved about X’s transparency report submitted to the regulator in March 2024, which confirmed it had minimize its staff of content material moderators by almost 20% in comparison with the variety of moderators it reported in an early October 2023 transparency report.
X diminished linguistic protection inside the EU from 11 languages to seven, the Fee stated, once more citing X’s transparency report.
The Fee stated it is looking for additional particulars from X on threat assessments and mitigation measures linked to the influence of generative synthetic intelligence on electoral processes, dissemination of unlawful materials, and safety of basic rights.
X, which was previously referred to as Twitter, was not instantly out there for remark when contacted by CNBC.
X should present info requested by the EU on its content material moderation sources and generative AI requested by Might 17, the Fee stated. Remaining solutions to questions from the Fee have to be offered no later than Might 27, the company stated.
The Fee stated its request for info was an additional step in a proper probe into breaches of the EU’s lately launched Digital Companies Act.
The Fee initiated formal infringement proceedings in opposition to X in December final 12 months after considerations had been raised over its method to tackling unlawful content material surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Fee on the time stated its investigation would deal with X’s compliance with its duties to counter the dissemination of unlawful content material within the EU, the effectiveness of the social media platform’s steps to fight info manipulation and its measures to extend transparency.
EU officers stated the requests for info intention to construct on proof gathered to date in relation to its DSA investigation into X. That proof consists of X’s March transparency report, in addition to replies to earlier requests for info addressing what X is doing to deal with disinformation dangers linked to generative AI dangers.
The DSA, which solely got here into impact in November 2022, requires massive on-line platforms corresponding to X to mitigate the chance of disinformation and institute rigorous procedures to take away hate speech, whereas balancing this with freedom-of-expression considerations.
Firms discovered to have breached the foundations face fines as excessive as 6% of their international annual revenues.