Illegal content on Elon Musk’s X leads to EU investigation

The European Union on Monday announced a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform

The investigation is perhaps the most substantial regulatory fallout yet from X, which has scaled back its content moderation policies since Musk took over the service once known as Twitter last year. The company’s new policy has led to an increase in inflammatory content on the platform, according to researchers, causing brands to scale back their advertising.

By going after X, the European Union is for the first time using its new authority that it acquired after a new law was passed last year, the so-called Digital Services Act. The policy gives regulators vast new powers to force social media companies to monitor their platforms for hate speech, misinformation and other divisive content.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-nation bloc, had signaled its intention to further investigate X’s business practices. In October, regulators launched a preliminary investigation into the spread of “terrorist and violent content and hate speech” on X following the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Under the Digital Services Act, companies can face fines of up to 6 percent of global turnover.

This is a development story. Check back for updates.