Elon Musk’s X to change verification system in Europe: Report

Elon Musk’s social media company X has agreed to change its ​verification mechanism in the European Union following ‌a fine of 120 million euros, ​Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, ⁠citing a European Commission spokesperson.

X was fined in December by EU tech regulators for ‌breaching online content rules, the first sanction under a landmark legislation that ‌drew criticism from the U.S. ‌government.

The Bloomberg ⁠report quoted European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier saying that X submitted remedies in relation to its blue ​check mark verification ‌feature.

The European Commission and X did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Regnier said the ‌commission will assess the proposed remedies, according ​to the report.

The EU sanction against X had followed ⁠a two-year-long investigation under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires online platforms to ‌do more to tackle illegal and harmful content.

The European Commission in July 2024 had charged X with deceiving users, saying that the blue checkmark does not correspond to industry practices and ‌that anyone can pay to get a “verified” status.

The blue checkmark had previously indicated that an account belonged to ⁠a public figure whose identity was verified, but ⁠Musk changed it to indicate it belonged to a paid ‌subscriber after acquiring X in 2022.

Musk acquired X, formerly known as Twitter, ​for $44 billion.