The
European
Union
has
reportedly
warned
X
that
it
could
use
the
revenue
of
several
companies
owned
by
Elon
Musk
to
calculate
fines
levied
against
the
platform
for
violating
social
media
laws.
European
regulators
may
take
the
annual
revenues
of
Musk’s
other
companies
—
including
SpaceX,
Neuralink,
xAI,
and
the
Boring
Company
—
into
account
to
calculate
fines,
people
familiar
with
the
matter
told
Bloomberg.
X
is
being
investigated
for
potentially
violating
several
provisions
of
the
EU’s
Digital
Services
Act
(DSA),
a
sweeping
law
that
requires
major
platforms
to
remove
posts
that
contain
illegal
content
—
and
holds
them
financially
accountable
if
they
don’t.
Under
the
DSA,
which
was
passed
in
2022,
regulators
can
fine
companies
as
much
as
6%
of
their
yearly
annual
revenue
for
failing
to
follow
transparency
rules
or
address
illegal
content
or
disinformation
on
their
platforms.
People
familiar
with
the
deliberations
told
Bloomberg
that
the
EU
is
essentially
debating
whether
Musk
should
be
fined
instead
of
X
itself.
If
so,
regulators
would
calculate
the
amount
based
on
the
annual
revenues
of
several
companies
he
owns.
Since
Tesla
is
publicly
owned,
it
would
be
excluded.
It’s
possible
that
these
expanded
fines
are
related
to
X’s
plummeting
revenue
under
Musk’s
tenure.
X
is
valued
at
$9.4
billion
as
of
August,
amounting
to
a
total
markdown
of
nearly
80
percent
since
Musk
purchased
it,
according
to
disclosures
from
Fidelity’s
Blue
Chip
Growth
Fund.
DSA
obligations
apply
“irrespective
of
whether
the
entity
exercising
decisive
influence
over
the
platform
or
search
engine
is
a
natural
or
legal
person,”
Thomas
Regnier,
a
spokesperson
for
the
commission,
told
Bloomberg.
Still,
the
commission
has
yet
to
decide
whether
to
fine
X
at
all,
and
people
familiar
with
the
situation
told
Bloomberg
that
the
social
platform
could
avoid
fines
if
it
addresses
the
commission’s
concerns
—
which
Musk
is
unlikely
to
do.
After
saying
he
was
“very
much
on
the
same
page”
as
the
EU
regarding
the
DSA
in
2022,
Musk
made
an
about-face,
pulling
X
out
of
the
EU’s
Code
of
Practice
against
disinformation
the
following
year.
The
Code
of
Practice
was
a
voluntary
agreement
that
served
as
a
precursor
to
the
mandatory
provisions
of
the
DSA.
Since
then,
Musk
has
publicly
criticized
both
the
commission
and
antagonized
its
former
head,
Thierry
Breton,
who
spearheaded
the
investigation
into
X
before
resigning
this
September.
The
relationship
was
mutually
contentious:
Breton
once
sent
Musk
a
letter
warning
that
he’d
be
watching
for
“spillover”
DSA
violations.
The
decision
to
fine
X
—
and
Musk’s
other
companies
—
now
rests
with
Margrethe
Vestager,
Breton’s
successor.
(Originally posted by Gaby Del Valle)
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