(Bloomberg) – The European Union warns X that it could calculate fines against the social media platform by including revenue from Elon Musk’s other businesses, including Space Exploration Technologies and Neuralink. did. Penalties for violating content moderation rules.
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, the EU can impose fines of up to 6% of annual global revenue on online platforms that fail to tackle illegal content, disinformation or comply with transparency rules. In addition to revenue from the social network, regulators also consider potential fines against Company X from revenue from SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI and the Boring Company, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The company is currently considering whether to include it in its decision. Information has not been made public.
The European Commission is investigating Company X for several possible violations of the Digital Services Act, a new regulation aimed at ensuring platforms clamp down on illegal content. The European Union is leading a global crackdown on harmful online content and disinformation, and Mr. Musk has responded increasingly vocally, arguing that such measures limit free speech.
X is a private company controlled solely by Musk. The committee is essentially considering whether Musk himself, rather than X itself, should be subject to a fine when considering his income from other companies, the people said. That’s what it means. Tesla’s revenue is excluded from this calculation because it is publicly traded and not under Mr. Musk’s full control, one of the people said.
The commission has not yet decided whether to penalize Mr. X, and the amount of the potential fine is still under discussion, the people said. They tend not to impose the maximum possible fines on companies for antitrust violations. Penalties may be avoided if X finds a way to satisfy the watchdog’s concerns.
Mr. X did not respond to requests for comment. Musk previously told X that he intended to fight the DSA fine through a “very public battle in court.”
