The social media platform X, founded by Elon Musk, is facing a formal complaint for potential violations of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

The complaint, submitted by nine civil society organizations, alleges that X has improperly used sensitive personal data for targeted advertising.

The allegations stem from an analysis conducted by AI Forensics, which reviewed X’s Ad Repository.

The findings suggest that major brands and institutions targeted ads based on users’ political opinions, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and health conditions.

Specific examples include Total Energies ads excluding users who engaged with ecologist figures and McDonald’s ads avoiding those linked to trade unions or mental health topics.

Groups like European Digital Rights (EDRi) and Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe (CDT) are calling on the European Commission and national regulators to investigate the platform’s practices under the DSA.

This comes as the European Commission continues a separate probe launched in December 2023 into X’s broader compliance with DSA rules, including transparency and blue checkmark usage.

🔗 Source: Euronews

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ The DSA shifts focus from data breaches to algorithmic accountability

The X complaint marks a significant evolution in digital regulation, focusing on how platforms use data rather than just securing it.

While previous major tech investigations centered on data breaches and unauthorized access, like Facebook’s 2019 exposure of 540 million records that led to regulatory action 1, this case addresses algorithmic discrimination through advertising targeting.

The DSA specifically prohibits platforms from using sensitive personal data categories for targeted advertising, representing a more sophisticated approach to privacy protection than previous regulations 2.

This regulatory evolution follows years of escalating penalties, including Facebook’s record $5 billion FTC fine in 2019 for violating consumer privacy 3, establishing a pattern of increasingly strict oversight of how platforms monetize user data.

The complaint against X demonstrates how EU regulation has matured from focusing primarily on data security incidents to addressing the ethical implications of how legally collected data is deployed in advertising systems.

2️⃣ Platform advertising models face existential regulatory pressure