X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has been fined £105m by the EU over its ‘blue tick’ verified profile badges.

Since Elon Musk took over the social media firm, X has allowed users to purchase a ‘blue tick’ to verify their profile rather than go through a ‘verified’ process by ensuring their identity and any associated expertise.

The European Commission said that allowing users to purchase a ‘blue tick’ verification actually “deceives users” as the platform is not “meaningfully verifying” the account.

The EU regulator said that “this deception exposes users to scams, including impersonation frauds, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors.”

Further to this, the EU said that X also failed to provide researchers access to public data or provide adequate transparency on its advertisements.

X must pay the fine and inform the Commission on how it will remedy the failures, or face further penalties.

“The fine issued today was calculated taking into account the nature of these infringements, their gravity in terms of affected EU users, and their duration,” it said.

The fine marks the first decision by the EU Commission under its Digital Services Act (DSA), which regulates how online platforms manage their data, advertising, and content.

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“Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU,” Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy.

“The DSA protects users. The DSA gives researchers the way to uncover potential threats. The DSA restores trust in the online environment.

“With the DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability.”