Disinformation
Commission deepens investigation into X
Tech mogul Elon Musk’s meddling in European politics has been subject of much political discussion in the EU lately. EU tech regulators decided in January to deepen their investigation of Musk’s platform X. The European Commission initiated an investigation into X in 2023 and in July 2024 issued a preliminary finding that X had breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) through deceiving users with its blue mark verifications, restricting data access, and lacking advertising transparency.
But after Musk declared support for far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of the German election on February 23 and livestreamed a conversation on X with AfD leader Alice Weidel, the commission widened the investigation. On 17 January, they requested X to provide internal documentation on its recommender systems and any recent changes made to it by 15 February. In addition, a “retention order” requires X to preserve internal documents and information regarding future changes to the design and functioning of its recommender algorithms for the rest of 2025, unless the investigation is concluded beforehand. Finally, the commission requested access to certain commercial APIs, that is, technical interfaces that allow fact-finding on content moderation and virality of accounts.
The commission also monitored Musk’s livestreamed conversation with Weidel, looking for possible violations of EU law. Politico reported that up to 150 experts from the commission followed the livestream to evaluate how X and its algorithms pushed the livestream to its users.
Also, after European Parliament members requested information on where the investigation into X stands, commissioners Henna Virkkunen and Michael McGrath, responsible for tech and democracy, respectively, wrote in a letter on 7 January that the commission plans to “energetically advance with the case” and “come to a conclusion as early as legally possible”.
Musk’s role as head of US President Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency and the Trump administration’s engagement in defending the interest of American tech companies raise questions about the political considerations the commission might take.
(Brussels will be watching whether Musk breaks EU law in far-right livestream)
Zuckerberg up in arms against EU rules
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg attacked EU regulation in an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on 11 January, saying that EU digital regulation is “censorship” and fines imposed “almost like a tariff”.
He said he hopes the new Trump administration will defend the US tech industry against the enforcement of the EU's digital regulatory framework, reports Euractiv. A commission spokesperson rejected the accusation and told Reuters they only required large platforms to remove illegal content.
The comments came after Zuckerberg on 7 January announced that Meta, owner company of Facebook and Instagram, will end its fact-checking programme in the US.
The European Federation of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders wrote an open letter to commission president Ursula von der Leyen warning that Meta’s decision paves the way for a similar future decision in the EU. They called on von der Leyen to “forcefully resist pressures exerted against European democracy” by:
- Opening an investigation of the transnational consequences on EU territory of Meta’s announcement to close its fact-checking programme in the US.
- Obliging Meta to perform an assessment of the consequences of its expected decision to close its fact-checking programme in the EU.
- Obliging Meta to temporarily suspend its decision if it decides to terminate its fact-checking programme in the EU, allowing fact-checking organisations to reintegrate into these platforms until the relevant investigations are complete.
(Zuckerberg calls on US to defend tech companies against European ‘censorship’)
(RSF and EFJ urge European Commission president to act swiftly to prevent Meta’s fact-checking program from being shut down in Europe)
Google refuses fact-checking
Google told the EU it will not add fact-checks to search results or YouTube videos, or use them in ranking or removing content, according to a copy of a letter obtained by Axios, who reported on this on 16 January.
In the letter, Google’s global affairs president Kent Walker states that Google does not plan to add the fact-checking integration, which will be required when the voluntary Disinformation Code of Practice is soon integrated into the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The code would oblige Google to incorporate fact-check results alongside Google's search results and YouTube videos. It would also force Google to build fact-checking into its ranking systems and algorithms.
Walker said Google's current approach to content moderation works and that a new feature added to YouTube last year enabling some users to add contextual notes to videos “has significant potential”. This is a solution similar to what X has incorporated and Meta has announced it plans to do.
(Scoop: Google won't add fact checks despite new EU law)
US demands answers over EU social media rules
US House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan sent a letter to the European Commission's tech boss, Henna Virkkunen, on 31 January, demanding information about how the bloc will enforce its social media law against American companies, reports Politico.
Jordan demands the judiciary committee be briefed by 13 February about the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) and ongoing proceedings against American tech firms.
In the letter, obtained by Politico, he writes that “the establishment of a global censorship law appears to be the DSA’s very purpose”.
(US presses Brussels for answers over EU social media law)
New Russian disinformation campaign ahead of German election
A German non-profit claims to have detected a revival of the Doppelgänger campaign before the German election, reports Euractiv.
According to the claims, Russia has revived its disinformation tactics to boost far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and discredit its rivals.
The NGO CeMAS said they detected hundreds of posts spreading misleading claims about the election on X with indications they belong to Russia’s notorious Doppelgänger campaign, which creates misleading clones of websites of renowned media outlets. The falsified articles are then amplified by bot-like accounts on social platforms.
(Russia’s disinformation operations resurface ahead of German election)
Slow national implementation of the DSA
In December the European Commission urged five member states to comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA), which provides rules for online platforms to, amongst other things, counter the spread of illegal content or disinformation. According to the DSA, member states had to appoint a national digital services coordinator (DSC) by February 2024 and empower them to monitor and enforce the application of the act, and serve as contact points for the commission.
But in mid-December, Belgium and Poland had still not appointed a national coordinator, while others had failed with other tasks related to the DSC. The commission therefore sent a reasoned opinion to Belgium and Poland, but also to Spain and the Netherlands, in their case for failing to empower their DSCs. They also sent a letter of formal notice to Bulgaria for failing to empower the nominated coordinator to carry out its tasks under the DSA, including laying down the rules on penalties applicable to DSA breaches.
In January, Belgium appointed the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications as its DSC, leaving only Poland lacking a coordinator.
In its letters, the commission gave the member states two months to address the shortcomings. It also warned the next step might be to refer Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium to the EU Court of Justice, and to send a reasoned opinion to Bulgaria.
