San Francisco Frontiers - EU deepens probe into X after Musk outbursts

Musk, who will be a part of Donald Trump's incoming administration in the United States, has angered Europe with a series of attacks on the continent's leaders as well as support for Germany's far-right AfD party before next month's vote.

The European Commission, which acts as the bloc's digital watchdog, has come under fierce scrutiny from EU lawmakers seeking tougher measures against X and Musk's "interference" in Germany.

Musk's X is suspected of manipulating the platform's systems to give far-right posts and politicians greater visibility over other political groups.

X has been under investigation since December 2023 under the European Union's landmark content law -- known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) -- regarding how it tackles the spread of illegal content and information manipulation.

"Today we are taking further steps to shed light on the compliance of X's recommender systems with the obligations under the DSA," said the EU's tech chief, Henna Virkkunen.

Recommender systems are used by platforms to push more personalised content.

EU regulators told X to provide internal paperwork on its recommender systems and any recent changes made to it by February 15.

The commission has also ordered X "to preserve internal documents and information regarding future changes to the design and functioning of its recommender algorithms" between January 17 and December 31 this year, unless the probe is completed earlier.

It also asked for access to some of X's commercial APIs -- technical interfaces to its content that allow direct fact-finding on content moderation and accounts' virality.

"These steps will allow the commission services to take all relevant facts into account in the complex assessment under the DSA of systemic risks and their mitigation," the commission said.

- EU 'committed' to enforcement -

Musk has slammed the EU's DSA as a tool of censorship. The law fully entered into force in February last year and is part of the bloc's strengthened legal weaponry targeting what Brussels views as big tech's excesses.

Virkkunen vowed the EU would fully enforce its rules.

"We are committed to ensuring that every platform operating in the EU respects our legislation, which aims to make the online environment fair, safe, and democratic for all European citizens," she said.

Confronted by accusations of slowing down its investigation into X because of pressure from Trump, the EU has insisted it has not wavered in its enforcement of its rules.

In July 2024 the EU formally charged the platform, as part of the same 2023 probe, with misleading users with its blue checkmarks for certified accounts, of insufficient advertising transparency and not giving researchers access to X's data.

EU digital spokesman Thomas Regnier insisted that Friday’s demand was "completely independent from any political considerations or indeed any specific events recently happening".

H.Davis--SFF