European Union Says X’s Blue Checks Are Deceptive, Transparency Falls Short Under Social Media Law

LONDON — The European Union says blue checkmarks from Elon Musk's X are deceptive and that the online platform falls short on transparency and accountability requirements in the first charges against a tech company since the bloc's new social media regulations took effect.

The European Commission outlined on Friday the preliminary findings from its investigation into X, formerly known as Twitter, under the 27-nation bloc's Digital Services Act.

The rulebook, also known as the DSA, is a sweeping set of regulations that requires platforms to take more responsibility for protecting users and cleaning up their sites.

Regulators took aim at X's blue checks, saying they constitute "dark patterns” that are not in line with industry best practice and can be used by malicious actors to deceive users.

After Musk bought the site in 2022, it started issuing the verification marks to anyone who paid $8 per month for one. Before Musk's acquisition, they mirrored verification badges common on social media and were largely reserved for celebrities, politicians and other iNFLuential accounts.