Elon Musk braces for another fight after X gets named and shamed

• European regulators said Elon Musk's X deceives users and breaches EU rules.
• The European Commission cited issues with data access, advertising transparency, and "dark patterns."
• If the Commission's views are confirmed, X could be fined up to 6% of its global turnover.

Elon Musk's X deceives its users and breaches online content rules, the European Commission said on Friday.

In a preliminary view, the Commission said the platform had broken rules regarding data access for researchers, advertising transparency, and "dark patterns."

The body said X's blue checkmark system for "verified accounts" deceives users as anyone can pay to obtain verified status. The Commission said the system did not correspond to industry practice and negatively affected users' ability to make informed decisions about the authenticity of accounts.

"X has now the right of defence — but if our view is confirmed we will impose fines & require significant changes," industry commissioner Thierry Breton posted on X.

X could be fined up to 6% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the provider if the Commission's views are confirmed.

Representatives for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

This is a developing story, please check for further updates.