Source: X probably does not fall under the groundbreaking EU technology rules

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s social media platform “X” is unlikely to be subject to groundbreaking EU technology rules designed to limit the power of big tech companies because it does not meet the rules’ gatekeeper criteria, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The European Commission opened an investigation into X in May after the company rejected earlier suggestions that it might have to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which imposes a list of dos and don’ts on major technology companies.

X has stated that it is not an important gateway between businesses and consumers.

Under the DMA, companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a market capitalization of €75 billion ($83 billion) are classified as gatekeepers. They must make their messaging apps compatible with those of competitors and let users decide which apps to pre-install on their devices. They also cannot favor their own services over those of competitors or prevent users from removing pre-installed software or apps.

The Commission had said it would complete its investigation within five months but declined to comment.

The bigger challenges for X come from the EU’s recently passed Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires major online platforms to do more to combat illegal and harmful online content or face fines of up to six percent of their annual global turnover.

X is the target of several ongoing DSA investigations.

Bloomberg was the first to report that X is likely to circumvent EU technology regulations.

(1 US dollar = 0.9024 euros)

(Edited by Leslie Adler)