"X (Formerly Twitter) Tops List of Social Networks with Highest Proportion of Disinformation, European Commission Study Finds"

X, formerly known as Twitter, has been identified as having the highest proportion of disinformation among the six major social networks, according to a study conducted by the European Commission. The study examined over 6,000 unique social media posts across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, and YouTube. It focused on three countries—Spain, Poland, and Slovakia—that were considered at high risk of disinformation due to elections or their proximity to the conflict in Ukraine.

The study revealed that Twitter (now X) had the largest “ratio of discoverability” of disinformation, meaning it had the highest proportion of sensitive content composed of disinformation. In contrast, YouTube had the lowest ratio of disinformation.

Vera Jourova, the EU’s Values and Transparency Commissioner, warned X to comply with the regulations, stating, “My message for [X] is: you have to comply with the hard law. We’ll be watching what you’re doing.” The study was conducted as part of efforts to support the EU’s code of practice on disinformation, to which X and other social networks had voluntarily subscribed in 2018. However, X withdrew from the code during Elon Musk’s leadership.

X will now be subject to the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which regulates the conduct of large tech platforms. The EU plans to transform the voluntary code into a code of conduct under the DSA. Companies that fail to comply with the act could face fines of up to six percent of their global turnover.

The European Union has accused social media companies of failing to prevent “large-scale” Russian disinformation campaigns since the invasion of Ukraine. It noted that the influence of Kremlin-backed accounts had expanded in 2023. Jourova emphasized that Russia was using disinformation as a “multi-million euro weapon of mass manipulation” to distort perceptions of democracy, particularly concerning the war in Ukraine and upcoming European elections.

She also mentioned ongoing efforts to combat AI-generated disinformation ahead of the elections, including discussions with representatives from OpenAI.