EU hits Elon Musk's X social media platform with 120 mln euro fine

The European Commission on Friday imposed fines totaling 120 million euros (nearly 140 million U.S. dollars) on Elon Musk's social media platform X for breaching transparency obligations in its first non-compliance decision under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

This marks the first time the European Union's executive arm has issued such a non-compliance ruling under the DSA, which came into force in 2022 and took full effect last February. The act regulates online intermediaries and platforms to prevent illegal and harmful activities online and stop the spread of disinformation.

According to the Commission's press release, the penalty stems from three distinct breaches of the DSA, including the deceptive design of X's "blue checkmark" feature, a lack of transparency in its advertising repository, and the platform's failure to provide researchers with access to public data.

The use of the blue checkmark, which any user can obtain by paying, to designate "verified accounts" exposes users to scams, including impersonation fraud and other forms of manipulation, according to the Commission.

It added that X's advertisement repository fails to meet the DSA's transparency and accessibility requirements, and that the platform also falls short of its obligation to provide researchers with access to its public data.

The decision follows formal proceedings opened in December 2023 to examine whether X breached the DSA in areas related to illegal content dissemination and measures to counter information manipulation, for which the investigation continues.

X is not the only U.S. tech company to come under heavy scrutiny from the European Commission.

On Thursday, the Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation into Mark Zuckerberg's Meta organization over a new policy that could limit artificial intelligence providers' access to the popular WhatsApp messaging service.

The Commission also announced a new investigation into Google last month, after slapping a 2.95-billion-euro fine on the internet giant for antitrust violations in the online advertising sector in September.

The United States has repeatedly criticized the EU's regulatory measures as being targeted at American companies, while Google, Amazon, and other major firms have recently said they will file appeals against the latest EU regulatory decisions.

EU hits Elon Musk's X social media platform with 120 mln euro fine

EU hits Elon Musk's X social media platform with 120 mln euro fine

EU hits Elon Musk's X social media platform with 120 mln euro fine

EU hits Elon Musk's X social media platform with 120 mln euro fine

More than 20 U.S. warships are enforcing blockade against Iran, U.S. Central Command posted on social media platform X on Sunday.

Since April 13, the U.S. military has ordered 61 merchant ships to change course and has disabled four vessels, said the post.

Following a temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, the former has continued its naval blockade against Iran, while Iran has demanded its lifting.

A top Iranian diplomat on Sunday warned that the presence of French and British warships in the Strait of Hormuz to accompany the U.S. "illegal and internationally unlawful" actions will be met with a "decisive and immediate" response from Iran's armed forces.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, made the statement in a social media post while responding to France's deployment of its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to prepare for a future joint mission between Paris and London to secure the freedom of shipping and navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Gharibabadi said the British government has also announced that to accompany France, it will send a warship to the Red Sea, adding any deployment and stationing of trans-regional destroyers around the Strait of Hormuz under the pretext of protecting shipping "is nothing but an escalation of the crisis, the militarization of the vital waterway, and an attempt to cover up the true root of insecurity in the region."

He added that maritime security cannot be ensured through a "show of military power," especially by actors who themselves contribute to the problems through their support, participation, or silence in the face of the anti-Iran "aggression and blockade."

He claimed that Iran, as a coastal country, has the right to exercise sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and determine its legal arrangements.

Meanwhile, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Iran's Navy Commander Shahram Irani as saying the navy has deployed light, homegrown submarines in the Strait of Hormuz to counter the "enemy's" warships.

Also on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said in Nairobi, Kenya, that France had "never envisaged" a naval deployment in the Strait of Hormuz, but rather a security mission to be "coordinated with Iran," noting that he was sticking to his position of opposing a blockade from either side.

Iran tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz beginning Feb. 28, when it barred safe passage to vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following their joint strikes on Iranian territory.

The United States has also imposed a naval blockade on the strait, preventing ships traveling to and from Iranian ports from transiting the waterway.

Sporadic clashes erupted last Thursday and Friday between Iran and the United States in and around the Strait of Hormuz after Washington launched a project, called Project Freedom, to guide stranded ships out of the waterway.

Over 20 US warships enforcing blockade against Iran