According to the Financial Times, on Thursday, the European Commission has now postponed an ongoing investigation into suspected violations of EU digital transparency rules by Mask social media platform X. This extension comes at a critical stage in the EU-United States trade negotiations, and the European Commission, which oversees trade on behalf of the EU, will not be able to complete the survey by the summer recess. It is expected that the decision on this issue will be taken after more definite progress in the EU-United States trade negotiations.
Last year, EU technical regulators found that Platform X violated the Digital Services Act (DSA). The Act compels large online platforms and search engines to take stronger action against illegal content and threats to public security. The offending enterprise may face a fine of up to 6 per cent of its global turnover. Repeated violators may be completely banned from operating in the EU. The survey on platform X originated in a seven-month review that identified the use of the platform for “Blue V certification”. The European Commission stated that X’s approach was “deceptive of the user” and was inconsistent with accepted cases of conduct.
The European Commission noted that this practice undermined the ability of the user to freely and accurately assess the authenticity of the account and its interactive content, since anyone could obtain a “validated” status by paying subscription. The Board added that there was evidence of a deliberate misuse of the “certified account” status by malicious actors to mislead users. The byte TikTok, the Ali Baba Global Express and Meta Platforms (under the flag, including platforms like Facebook) are also being investigated under the DSA framework. An EU spokesperson said that the investigation into X was still ongoing and stressed that the implementation of the bill was independent of ongoing trade negotiations.
While the investigation was postponed, the EU Trade Commissioner, Valdis Dombroskis, is preparing high-risk tariff negotiations with the United States Minister of Commerce, Gina Raimundo, and the United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai. The Trump Government is continuously assessing trade policy. The EU considers such a move unacceptable and would undermine trade relations between the two world economies. The EU warns of counter-measures if no agreement is reached. In response to the possibility of a breakdown in the negotiations, the European Commission has prepared a retaliatory tariff programme for US exports worth $83.6 billion (approximately $60.7 billion RMB). The targeted products include Boeing aircraft, bourbon whiskey and cars.
