The European Union has opened an investigation into X!

Social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has become the first technology company to be investigated under the European Union's new social media regulations. "Today we are launching formal infringement proceedings against @X under the Digital Services Act," European Commissioner Thierry Breton said on his social media account.

The European Union is stepping up its pressure after asking X in October for information on how it handled hate speech, misinformation and violent 'terrorist content' related to the Israel-Hamas war. The investigation is the first test of the Digital Services Act (DSA), part of a series of pioneering EU regulations designed to rein in the power of tech companies.

Johannes Bahrke, spokesperson for the European Commission, told a press conference in Brussels that the European Commission, the EU's executive body, "will investigate X's systems and policies in relation to some suspected DPA violations." The San Francisco-based social media platform said it is "committed to complying with the Digital Services Act and cooperating with the regulatory process," emphasizing that "it is important that this process remains free from political influence and complies with the law." "X is focused on creating a safe and inclusive environment for all users on our platform while protecting freedom of expression, and we will continue to work tirelessly towards this goal," the company said in a statement. The EU's investigation will examine whether X did enough to prevent the spread of illegal content, such as hate speech or incitement to terrorism, to its 112 million users in Europe. It will also examine whether X's measures to combat "information manipulation", in particular through its crowdsourced Community Notes fact-checking feature, are effective within the European Union.

Another area of investigation will be transparency. The EU said investigators found "suspected deficiencies" in X's access to its public data and advertising database, both of which are required under the DPA. Finally, the investigation will examine whether users were deceived by suspected "deceptive design" of X's interface, including its blue tick subscription service. While blue checkmarks once indicated that the person or organization behind an account, such as a celebrity, athlete or journalist, was real, they now only indicate that someone paid $8 a month to feature their posts. Many large tech companies have faced stricter scrutiny after the DPA came into force earlier this year. Companies have faced fines of up to 6 percent of global revenues and even the threat of being banned from the EU. But fines are considered a last resort and Brussels is expected to first use "interim measures" to force companies to comply.