(Reuters) – The European Union is considering expanding its investigation into whether Elon Musk’s social media network X breached its content moderation rulebook, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing the bloc’s tech policy chief.
The EU started investigating X, formerly Twitter, in late 2023 over suspected breaches of obligations, partly relating to posts following Hamas’ attacks on Israel, its first probe under the EU’s Digital Services Act, or DSA.
“We are currently assessing if the scope is large enough,” European Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen told Bloomberg TV when asked about the ongoing X probe.
The bloc’s scrutiny into the social media platform increased in recent months as Musk, now an adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, started endorsing far-right personalities such as chancellor candidate Alice Weidel from the Alternative for Germany party, ahead of the country’s Feb. 23 snap elections, according to Bloomberg.
The commission is examining whether a live-streamed conversation between Musk and Weidel on X last week was unfairly boosted to give a political candidate an advantage, in violation of the DSA, the report said.
Both X and the European Commission did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
In July, EU tech regulators ruled that X breached European Union online content rules and its blue checkmark deceives users, which led to Musk saying that he looked forward to a “very public battle in court, so that the people of Europe can know the truth.”
The charges by the European Commission, the first issued under the DSA, followed a seven-month-long investigation. The rules require very large online platforms and search engines to do more to tackle illegal content and risks to public security.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona)
