Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter, does not comply with the EU sanctions and the Digital Services Act (DSA), routinely leaving sanctioned Russian propaganda online despite being flagged, a new report reveals.
According to research by Science Feedback and Alliance4Europe, commissioned by the campaign group WeMove Europe, next to no content that is illegal under EU rules is removed from the platform despite being manually flagged. Of the 125 posts featuring illegal Russian content, just one was ultimately removed by the platform. This amounts to a takedown rate of less than 1%.
The report flags the platform's systemic failure to remove illegal content from sanctioned states and propaganda networks, despite EU legislation compelling it to do so.
Of the remaining 124 posts that stayed online, many of which originated from Russian state media or Kremlin-linked operations, such as Doppelgänger, and diplomatic accounts, remained online, with over 50 never being acknowledged by X.
Credit: WeMove Europe
Under the DSA, Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) are required to investigate reports of illegal content and apply relevant EU legislation to content on their platforms. This includes the EU sanctions regime against Russia. Russian state media outlets and affiliated figures have been banned from broadcasting their content within the EU since 2022. Despite this, the report suggests that X fails to prevent the dissemination of Russian disinformation in Europe.
"We reported 125 illegal posts and X ignored nearly all of them," commented Taïme Smit Pellure, digital campaigner at WeMove Europe. "Under the DSA, this isn’t just a failure of content moderation – it’s a breach of EU law, and it undermines Europe’s efforts to combat disinformation at a time of growing security threats."
Credit: WeMove Europe
The report comes ahead of European Commission plans to finalise at least one DSA investigation into X before the summer, which it has reportedly delayed due to sensitivities surrounding ongoing EU-US trade talks and concerns about provoking Donald Trump. X owner Musk had previously been a close ally to the U.S president before the two parted ways over a widely publicised online spat. The Tesla founder and owner of the X platform has previously been accused of pro-Russian sympathies.
"Beyond war propaganda on Ukraine, Russian state media has misled EU audiences on key issues from public health during COVID-19 to energy and climate change. Since these channels have been banned in the EU since 2022, taking action is not only justified but long overdue," argued Charles Terroille, project and investigative research officer at Science Feedback.
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WeMove Europe argues that recent polling shows that EU citizens want the European Commission to enforce its tech rules, especially on large social media platforms. The group points to legal action taken by France against X for its dissemination of foreign propaganda, racist and anti-LGBT+ content, as well as far-right and anti-democratic content. The group wants Brussels to follow their lead and maintain pressure on the platform to comply with the DSA and other EU legislation.
"We have shown that X is not fulfilling their obligations under the DSA. The European Commission should take notice of the increasing, profound evidence that X is ignoring European laws. Civil society collaborations like this continue to play a vital role in protecting European security," explained Saman Nazari, lead researcher at Alliance4Europe and the coordinator of the Counter Disinformation Network.
WeMove Europe has collected nearly 145,000 signatures in a bid to urge the Commission to take action and enforce its DSA policy against the platform, calling on it to launch an official investigation. The German not-for-profit organisation presents a digital community of over one million Europeans campaigning for a more equal, sustainable, and democratic Europe.
