By Marine Strauss and Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Friday it was stepping up its investigation into whether Elon Musk’s social media network X breached EU rules on content moderation with requests for information and an order for it to retain relevant documents.
As part of its investigation launched in December 2023, the EU executive said it was requesting X to provide by Feb. 15 internal documentation about its recommender system that makes content suggestions to users, and any recent changes made to it.
“Today we are taking further steps to shed light on the compliance of X’s recommender systems with the obligations under the DSA,” EU digital chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement, referring to the EU’s Digital Services Act.
X owner Musk has repeatedly clashed with EU regulators, while some European politicians have accused him of meddling in elections, such as with his streamed conversation with the leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany. Musk has said the criticism is an affront to democracy and free speech.
The Commission issued a “retention order” requiring X to preserve internal documents and information regarding future changes to the design and functioning of its recommender algorithms for the period from Jan. 17 to the end of 2025.
It also requested access to certain of X’s technical interfaces.
“These steps will allow the Commission services to take all relevant facts into account in the complex assessment under the DSA of systemic risks and their mitigation,” the Commission said.
(Reporting by Marine Strauss and Philip Blenkinsop. Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Mark Potter)
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