EU seeks information from X on content moderation amid first major probe under new tech rules
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The European Union is seeking information from social media platform X about cuts to its content moderation resources as part of its first major investigation into the company under its tough new laws governing online content.
The European Commission, the EU executive arm, said in a statement Wednesday that it’s requested information from X under the Digital Services Act, its groundbreaking tech law which requires online platforms to take a far stricter approach to policing illegal and harmful content on their platforms.
The Commission said it was concerned about X’s transparency report submitted to the regulator in March 2024, which showed it had cut its team of content moderators by nearly 20% compared to the number of moderators it reported in an early October 2023 transparency report.
X reduced linguistic coverage within the EU from 11 languages to seven, the Commission said, again citing X’s transparency report.
The Commission said it’s seeking further details from X on risk assessments and mitigation measures linked to the impact of generative artificial intelligence on electoral processes, dissemination of illegal material, and protection of fundamental rights.
X, which was formerly known as Twitter, was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
X must provide information requested by the EU on its content moderation resources and generative AI requested by May 17, the Commission said. Remaining answers to questions from the Commission must be provided no later than May 27, the agency said.
The Commission said its request for information was a further step in a formal probe into breaches of the EU’s recently introduced Digital Services Act.
The Commission initiated formal infringement proceedings against X in December last year after concerns were raised over its approach to tackling illegal content surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.
The Commission at the time said its investigation would focus on X’s compliance with its duties to counter the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, the effectiveness of the social media platform’s steps to combat information manipulation and its measures to increase transparency.
EU officials said the requests for information aim to build on evidence gathered so far in relation to its DSA investigation into X. That evidence includes X’s March transparency report, as well as replies to previous requests for information addressing what X is doing to tackle disinformation risks linked to generative AI risks.
The DSA, which only came into effect in November 2022, requires large online platforms such as X to mitigate the risk of disinformation and institute rigorous procedures to remove hate speech, while balancing this with freedom-of-expression concerns.
Companies found to have breached the rules face fines as high as 6% of their global annual revenues.
Oracle CEO Safra Catz speaks at the FII PRIORITY Summit in Miami Beach, Florida, on Feb. 20, 2025.
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Oracle shares jumped more than 5% after a recent filing showed a cloud deal that would add over $30 billion annually.
CEO Safra Catz is slated to share the deal news at a company meeting Monday, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The revenues are expected to start hitting in the 2028 fiscal year.
“Oracle is off to a strong start in FY26,” Catz is expected to say, according to the filing. “Our MultiCloud database revenue continues to grow at over 100%, and we signed multiple large cloud services agreements including one that is expected to contribute more than $30 billion in annual revenue starting in FY28.”
The deals revealed Monday by Catz will not affect the company’s 2026 guidance, according to the filing.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on April 4 that he would again postpone enforcement of a law banning TikTok unless its Chinese owner ByteDance divests from the platform.
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U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News in an interview aired on Sunday that he has a group of “very wealthy people” ready to buy TikTok, whose identities he can reveal in about two weeks.
Trump added that the deal will probably need Beijing’s approval to move forward, but said “I think President Xi will probably do it,” in reference to China’s leader Xi Jinping.
The president made the off-the-cuff remarks while discussing the possibility of another pause of his “reciprocal” tariffs on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.”
Tiktok’s fate in the U.S. has been in doubt since the approval of a law in 2024 that sought to ban the platform unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divested from it. The legislation was driven by concerns that the Chinese government could manipulate content and access sensitive data from American users.
Earlier this month, Trump extended the deadline for ByteDance to divest from the platform’s U.S. business. It was his third extension since the Supreme Court upheld the TikTok law just a few days before Trump’s second presidential inauguration in January. The new deadline is Sept. 17.
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, of PAFACA, had originally been set to take effect on Jan. 19, after which app store operators and internet service providers would be penalized for supporting TikTok.
TikTok went dark in the U.S. ahead of the original deadline, but was restored after Trump provided it with assurances on the extension.
Trump, who credited the app with boosting his support among young voters in the last presidential election, has maintained that he would like to see the platform stay afloat under new ownership.
Potential buyers that have voiced interest in the app include Trump insiders such as Oracle’s Larry Ellison to firms like AppLovin and Perplexity AI.
However, it’s unclear if ByteDance would be willing to sell the company. Any potential divestiture is likely to require approval from the Chinese government.
A deal that would have spun off TikTok’s U.S. operations and allowed ByteDance to retain a minority position had been in the works in April, but was derailed by the announcement of Donald Trump’s tariffs on China, Reuters reported that month.
The president previously floated a proposal for American stakeholders to buy the company and then sell a 50% stake to the U.S. government as part of a joint venture.
Experts have previously told CNBC that any potential deal could face legal challenges in the U.S., depending on whether it complies with PAFACA.
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