Elon Musk Reveals European Commission Offered X 'Illegal Secret Deal' To Censor Free Speech As Thierry Br

　　The European Union Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, has leveled charges against Elon MusksX, formerly Twitter, alleging deceptive practices and lack of transparency. The tech billionaire has now alleged that the commission “offered X an illegal secret deal.”

　　What Happened: On Friday, Breaton took to X and accused the social media platform acquired by Musk of falling short of the standards set by the Digital Services Actof the 27-nation bloc.

　　He criticized Xs blue checkmarks, saying that these were once exclusive and signified “trustworthy sources of information.” However now, blue badges are accessible to anyone willing to pay $8 per month.

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　　In response to the accusations, Musk said, “The European Commission offered X an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us. The other platforms accepted that deal. X did not.”

　　Breton refuted these allegations, asserting that no “secret deal” has ever been made.

　　Why It Matters: Earlier this month, the EU also issued a warning to X for failing to control harmful content. This was the third major action taken by EU regulators against prominent tech companies in recent weeks.

　　X now has an opportunity to address the accusations and implement the necessary changes to comply, making them legally binding. If the commission is unsatisfied, it can impose penalties of up to 6% of the companys annual global revenue and mandate corrective action.