Brussels asks X for answers on content moderation
X social media - Photo by Julian Christ on Unsplash
(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission sent American social media company X a formal request under the EU's Digital Services Act Wednesday for information on its reduction of resources for content moderation.
Under the DSA X is required to conduct a risk assessment in relation to the implementation of generative AI tools in the EU as well as on other areas covered by the ongoing proceedings.
In particular, the Commission has requested X to provide detailed information and internal documents on its content moderation resources in light of its latest Transparency report under the DSA, which revealed that X has curtailed its team of content moderators by almost 20% since the preceding report in October 2023, reducing linguistic coverage within the European Union from 11 EU languages to 7.
The Commission is also seeking further details on the risk assessments and mitigation measures linked to the impact of generative AI tools on electoral processes, dissemination of illegal content, and protection of fundamental rights.
The Commission opened formal proceedings against X in December 2023 to assess whether X may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers.
The new request for information is a further step in an ongoing investigation. It builds upon the evidence gathering and analysis conducted so far, including in relation to X's Transparency report published in March 2024 and X's replies to previous requests for information, which addressed, among others, mitigation measures for risks linked to generative AI.
X now needs to provide the requested information related to content moderation resources and generative AI to the Commission by 17 May 2024, and for the remaining questions by 27 May 2024. Pursuant to Article 74 (2) of the DSA, the Commission can impose fines for incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information in response to a request for information. In case of failure to reply, the Commission may decide to request the information by decision. In this scenario, failure to reply by the deadline could lead to the imposition of periodic penalty payments.
EU Official Journal text on the DSA
Very large online platforms and search engines under the DSA