EU seeks information on content moderation from X in DSA investigation

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of social media site

Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters

The European Union is seeking information from social media platform X about cutting its content moderation resources, as part of the first major investigation into the company under tough new laws on online content.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement on Wednesday that it requested information from of illegal and harmful content.

The Commission said it was concerned by a transparency report submitted by The team cut nearly 20%.

The European Commission once again cited X’s transparency report as saying that X had reduced EU-wide language coverage from 11 languages to 7.

The committee said it was seeking more details from X on risk assessments and mitigation measures for the impact of generated artificial intelligence on electoral processes, the spread of illegal material and the protection of fundamental rights.

X, formerly known as Twitter, did not immediately provide comment when contacted by CNBC.

The Commission said X has until May 17 to provide the information requested by the EU on its content moderation resources and the artificial intelligence generated. The agency said the committee has until May 27 to provide the remaining responses to the committee’s questions.

GLAAD chief says X has been a 'terrible platform for LGBTQ people'

The European Commission said its request for information was a further step in its formal investigation into breaches of the EU’s recently introduced Digital Services Act.

In December, the Commission launched formal infringement proceedings against X after raising concerns over its handling of illegal content related to the Israel-Hamas war.

The European Commission said at the time that the investigation would focus on whether

EU officials said the information request was intended to build on evidence gathered so far in the DSA’s investigation into X. What measures to deal with the risk of disinformation are related to the risk of artificial intelligence.

The DSA, which only takes effect in November 2022, requires large online platforms such as X to reduce the risk of false information and establish strict procedures to eliminate hate speech while balancing free speech issues.

Companies found to be in breach of the rules face fines of up to 6% of annual global revenue.