EU steps up probe into Musk's X, days ahead of Trump inauguration

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.

The Commission, which started its investigation against X in December 2023, requested the company 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 European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA).

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Commission played down reports earlier this week that it was reviewing its investigations against big tech companies, stressing that they are continuing as normal and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House did not affect its commitment to enforcing its laws.

Trump, who takes over as the 47th U.S. president on Monday, has been critical of various EU policies. Bolstered by his stance, other U.S. CEOs, such as Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, have sought his help to fight EU regulations.

Meta last week scrapped its U.S. fact-checking programmes and Zuckerberg said he would work with Trump to push back on censorship around the world, highlighting the increasing number of laws institutionalising censorship in Europe.

X owner Musk, who is an ally of Trump, has also repeatedly clashed with EU regulators, and riled mainstream European politicians by backing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Germany's election next month, and endorsing Britain's right-wing Reform party.

Some European politicians have accused Musk of meddling in elections, such as with his streamed conversation with the leader of AfD.

Musk has said the criticism is an affront to democracy and free speech.

The Commission has said Musk is free to speak his mind and can hold live streams with politicians but is assessing whether algorithms boost a single narrative and "shadow-ban" other views, so posing a risk to fair elections.

The debate on free speech has put a focus on the EU's DSA, which is intended to address illegal content such as hate speech and election interference.

The Commission issued a "retention order" requiring X to keep internal documents and information on 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 to its content that would allow direct fact-finding on content moderation and virality of accounts.

"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 in Brussels, Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm. Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Mark Potter)