Elon Musk’s X fined €120m over ‘deceptive’ blue ticks

The EU has fined Elon Musk's social network X €120m (£105m) over its blue tick icons, prompting an angry response from the US.

By allowing people to pay for a blue verified tick on their profile, the platform is “deceiving users” because the firm “does not check” who is behind the account, the European Commission said.

“This deception exposes users to the risk of fraud, including impersonation fraud, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors,” He said.

But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) criticized the EU regulator, accusing it of targeting and censoring American firms.

“The European Commission's fine is not just an attack on X, it is an attack on all American technology platforms and the American people by foreign governments,” Rubio wrote. in a post on X.

“The days of censoring Americans on the Internet are over.”

His remarks were reposted by Musk, who added “absolutely.”

Earlier on Friday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr accused the commission of targeting X only because it is a “successful American technology company.”

“Europe taxes Americans to subsidize a continent held back by Europe's own stifling rules,” he wrote.

Their comments echo those made Thursday by US Vice President J.D. Vance.

He criticized the EU amid rumors of a forthcoming fine, saying the platform was being punished “for refusing to censor.”

“The EU should support freedom of speech, not attack American companies over trash,” He said.

Social media expert Matt Navarra said the comments showed the fine was “more than just a punishment.” [but] statement” on the EU's readiness to tighten regulation of technology companies.

EU regulators not only expressed dissatisfaction with the use of blue ticks, but also said that X does not provide transparency in its advertising and does not provide researchers with access to publicly available data.

“The fine imposed today was calculated taking into account the nature of these violations, their seriousness from the point of view of affected EU users and their duration,” the Commission said.

Henna Virkkunen, the regulator's executive vice-president for technology sovereignty, said it “holds X accountable for undermining user rights and evading responsibility.”

“Tricking users with blue ticks, hiding information in advertising and blocking access to researchers has no place on the EU internet,” she said.

The decision means that X must tell the Commission how it will bring the allegedly infringing measures into line with EU law, otherwise it will have to impose additional fines periodically.

The action represents the Commission's first decision that the platform is “non-compliant” with the Digital Services Act (DSA), one of two sets of rules that online firms must follow to provide their services in the EU.

The DSA sets out platforms' obligations around content, data and advertising, and the Digital Markets Act sets out how companies must act to benefit consumers and competition.

Such rules have come under scrutiny from U.S. leaders, who have warned against tighter regulation of tech companies by governments and regulators.

Musk's shift to verification was part of a sweeping set of changes he made after acquiring Twitter in late 2022.

He saw that the previous system, which functioned similarly to other social media verification schemes by showing someone as verified if they provided evidence of who they are, was kicked out and replaced by one that is tied to the Premium subscription level.

It required people to pay a monthly subscription fee if they wanted a blue check mark to appear next to their account name on the site.

To receive a verified checkmark, Account X must have a display name and profile picture, a verified phone number, and be active in the previous 30 days.

They also cannot be “misleading or deceptive” or engage in spam activities.

Musk launched a new system to encourage people to sign up and increase X's overall revenue.

It also gave blue tick holders a greater presence in replies and was seen as a way to deal with the number of bots on the platform.

But this has proven to be highly controversial: with warnings, it can open users up to fraud by impostors or fake accounts, as well as increasing the credibility of attackers and misleading content.

Mr. Navarra said Mr. Musk's new system marks a departure from the way platforms typically vet users.

“This is a signal of trust, not a transaction, but an X that has been reversed,” he told the BBC.

“There's no meaningful identity verification, there's no rigorous checks, and I think that's where the EU has drawn the line,” he said, adding that X had made himself an “easy first target” for the Commission's review of deceptive designs on social platforms.