LONDON: European Union regulators on Friday fined Elon Musk’s social media platform X 120 million euros ($140 million) for failing to comply with the bloc’s digital regulations.
The European Commission issued its decision following an investigation it opened two years ago into X under the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Services Act. Also known as the DSA, its a sweeping rulebook that requires platforms to take more responsibility for protecting European users and cleaning up harmful or illegal content and products on their sites, under threat of hefty fines.
The Commission said it was punishing X, previously known as Twitter, because of three different breaches of the DSA’s transparency requirements. The decision could rile President Donald Trump, whose administration has lashed out at digital regulations from Brussels and vowed to retaliate if American tech companies are penalized.
Regulators said X’s blue checkmarks broke the rules because of their “deceptive design” that could expose users to scams and manipulation.
X also fell short of the requirements for its ad database and giving access to researchers access to public data.
EU regulators hit Elon Musk’s X with 120 million euro fine for breaching bloc’s social media law
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EU regulators hit Elon Musk’s X with 120 million euro fine for breaching bloc’s social media law
- The European Commission issued the decision after a two-year investigation under the Digital Services Act
- They cited issues with X’s blue checkmarks, which they called “deceptive,” and failures in its ad database and data access for researchers
Ukraine backs Pope’s call for Olympic truce in war with Russia
KYIV: Ukraine has backed a call for a ceasefire in the war with Russia during the Winter Olympics after Italy and Pope Leo urged world leaders to use the Milano Cortina games to further peace.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told Reuters that Ukraine supported the proposal during the February 6–22 Winter Olympics and a corresponding United Nations resolution calling for a global truce. He said it was up to Russia to clarify its position.
“We support this appeal,” he said in an interview in Kyiv. “We are interested in a ceasefire and if Russia once again rejects, it will once again confirm who is the obstacle for peace and who wants to continue this war.”
Pope Leo on Sunday invoked what he said was the ancient tradition of the Olympic truce and called on people in positions of power to take real steps toward de-escalation and dialogue in the name of peace.
Ukraine is locked in brutal fighting with Russia nearly four years after Moscow’s troops poured over the border in a full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russian forces occupy nearly a fifth of Ukraine and have been bombarding the power grid.
The United States is trying to broker a settlement and has held rounds of talks between Ukraine and Russia in an effort to end the war.
“Let’s stop and it will definitely open a path for broader peace negotiations,” Sybiha said.
