The European Union is investigating the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, for violating community law, suspected of failing to fight disinformation and content manipulation, CNBC reports, News.ro reports.

This is the first such request under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Commissioner Thierry Breton said on Monday that the measure was in response to alleged breaches of X’s transparency obligations and its commitment to combating illegal content and disinformation.

It’s also a response to what the EU calls the “misleading” user interface design associated with so-called blue ticks.

X, owned by Elon Musk, said in a previously prepared statement shared on social media that it “remains committed to complying with the Digital Services Act and cooperating with the regulatory process.”

The company added: “It is important that this process remains free from political influence and respects the law. X is focused on creating a safe and inclusive environment for all users on our platform while protecting freedom of expression, and we will continue to work tirelessly to achieve this goal.”

The European Commission said it opened proceedings under the DSA “based on the preliminary investigation carried out to date, including an analysis of the risk assessment report submitted by X in September, X’s transparency report published on 3 November and X’s responses to a formal request for information , which, among other things, concerned the distribution of illegal content in the context of Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel.”

The DSA, which doesn’t come into force until November 2022, requires major online platforms like X to reduce the risk of misinformation and implement strict procedures to remove hate speech, balancing this with freedom of expression concerns.

Companies guilty of violations face a fine of up to 6% of their global annual revenue.

The official infringement proceedings will focus on X’s compliance with its obligations to counter the spread of illegal content in the EU, the effectiveness of the social media platform’s measures to combat information manipulation and measures to increase transparency.

The investigation will also touch on the suspected “deceptive design” of X’s user interface, focusing in particular on the platform’s so-called blue ticks.

X says blue ticks are awarded to verified accounts that have an active X Premium subscription and meet certain requirements, such as displaying a name and profile picture, active usage, and being safe and fraud-free.

“Your account must be free of platform manipulation and spam” to qualify for a blue tick, X says.

After the opening of the proceedings, the European Commission announced that it would continue the process of gathering evidence. She emphasized that the law on digital services does not set a legal deadline for the completion of official procedures.

News of the investigation was preceded by Breton’s warning in mid-October to social media platforms X, Meta and TikTok, urging them to remain vigilant against misinformation and violent posts about the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“I remind you that sanctions may be imposed upon the opening of a potential investigation and finding of non-compliance,” Breton wrote at the time.

In a separate recent incident, X was the subject of a complaint by privacy activist Max Schrems, who claimed the social media platform broke EU rules by illegally using people’s political views and religious beliefs to target them with ads.