Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and proprietor of social media website X, previously often known 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 in search of data from social media platform X about cuts to its content material moderation sources as a part of its first main investigation into the corporate underneath its powerful new legal guidelines governing on-line content material.
The European Fee, the EU government arm, mentioned in a press release Wednesday that it is requested data from X underneath the Digital Companies Act, its groundbreaking tech legislation which requires on-line platforms to take a far stricter strategy to policing unlawful and dangerous content material on their platforms.
The Fee mentioned it was involved about X’s transparency report submitted to the regulator in March 2024, which confirmed it had lower its workforce of content material moderators by almost 20% in comparison with the variety of moderators it reported in an early October 2023 transparency report.
X lowered linguistic protection inside the EU from 11 languages to seven, the Fee mentioned, once more citing X’s transparency report.
The Fee mentioned it is in search of additional particulars from X on danger assessments and mitigation measures linked to the impression of generative synthetic intelligence on electoral processes, dissemination of unlawful materials, and safety of basic rights.
X, which was previously often known as Twitter, was not instantly obtainable for remark when contacted by CNBC.
X should present data requested by the EU on its content material moderation sources and generative AI requested by Could 17, the Fee mentioned. Remaining solutions to questions from the Fee should be supplied no later than Could 27, the company mentioned.
The Fee mentioned its request for data was an additional step in a proper probe into breaches of the EU’s just lately launched Digital Companies Act.
The Fee initiated formal infringement proceedings in opposition to X in December final 12 months after issues had been raised over its strategy to tackling unlawful content material surrounding the Israel-Hamas warfare.
The Fee on the time mentioned its investigation would give attention to 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 data manipulation and its measures to extend transparency.
EU officers mentioned the requests for data intention to construct on proof gathered thus far in relation to its DSA investigation into X. That proof contains X’s March transparency report, in addition to replies to earlier requests for data addressing what X is doing to sort out disinformation dangers linked to generative AI dangers.
The DSA, which solely got here into impact in November 2022, requires massive on-line platforms akin to X to mitigate the danger of disinformation and institute rigorous procedures to take away hate speech, whereas balancing this with freedom-of-expression issues.
Firms discovered to have breached the principles face fines as excessive as 6% of their international annual revenues.
