The European Commission has opened a new formal investigation into Elon Musk’s X under the Digital Services Act (DSA) and expanded a separate probe launched in December 2023.
“The new investigation will assess whether the company properly assessed and mitigated risks associated with the deployment of Grok’s functionalities into X in the EU,” the European Commission wrote in a press release, adding, “This includes risks related to the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, such as manipulated sexually explicit images, including content that may amount to child sexual abuse material.”
The Commission is examining whether X:
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Diligently assess and mitigate systemic risks, including of the dissemination of illegal content, negative effects in relation to gender-based violence, and serious negative consequences to physical and mental well-being stemming from deployments of Grok’s functionalities into its platform.
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Conduct and transmit to the Commission an ad hoc risk assessment report for Grok’s functionalities in the X service with a critical impact on X’s risk profile prior to their deployment.
“Non-consensual sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation,” EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen said, who was quoted by Bloomberg. This case falls under the DSA, which places strict guardrails on harmful and illegal material on the web. And it’s up to Brussels to define what is illegal material…
X, a subsidiary of xAI, pointed Bloomberg to a previous statement that it actively removes illegal content where necessary: “We remain committed to making X a safe platform for everyone and continue to have zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content.”
The EU’s Grok investigation comes shortly after a separate 120 million euro fine imposed on X under the DSA.
In that earlier case, EU regulators found that X’s paid blue check system misled users, the company obstructed researchers’ access to platform data, and it failed to properly establish an advertising transparency repository.
Vice President JD Vance criticized Brussels in an X post last month, saying, “The EU should be supporting free speech, not attacking American companies over garbage.”
Our assessment is that the EU’s move against Grok has little to do with safety. If it did, regulators would be scrutinizing every major social media platform and chatbot operating on the continent. Instead, Brussels appears unwilling to tolerate free speech or anything associated with Elon Musk.
Forcing xAI out of the EU would only confirm that the DSA functions less as a safety framework and more as a censorship weapon designed to crush free speech. If Europe chooses stagnation over freedom, the outcome here is very clear: the US becomes an even more attractive space for innovation and freedom.
We must note that the EU’s Grok investigation comes shortly after Europe plans to launch its own X-like social media platform called “W,” a subsidiary of Swedish climate media firm We Don’t Have Time.
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