X reaction to UK riots could impact DSA probe, says Commission

Legal proceedings were launched in December 2023 against X handling of illegal contents and disinformation on its platform.

Transcript

00:00X's role and response to the riots in the UK could inform a probe launched by the European

00:06Commission under its Digital Services Act, DSA.

00:10The commission proceedings launched against X in December 2023 were the first brought

00:15under the DSA, the landmark EU ruling on digital platforms.

00:20The DSA is only applicable in the EU and was very successful already in similar cases like

00:26the riots that happened in Ireland at the end of last year.

00:30Now that being said, on the current situation in the UK, we cannot be naive of course and

00:36there could be potential spillovers into the EU.

00:40We are very well aware of this and this is why we are following the situation very closely

00:44in the UK, but also X's response to these events.

00:48Since the knife attack killed three children at a dance class in Southport on July 30,

00:54a series of riots and violence between communities has spread across the UK.

00:59X has been used as a tool to spread misinformation about the Southport attack.

01:04It has since become a channel for Elon Musk to criticise the Prime Minister and amplify

01:09rhetoric that has led to subsequent violence.

01:13These incidents currently happening in the UK and the response of X to these events could

01:18be potentially taken into account during the current proceedings that we have opened against

01:22X, notably on disinformation and illegal content, and this would be very much in line

01:27with what already happened in the past.

01:30If the probe results find a breach in X's conduct, fines of up to 6% of its worldwide

01:36annual turnover could be imposed on the social media platform.