In a latest development, privacy activist Max Schrems has lodged a complaint against Elon Musk’s X company, claiming that the platform violated the European Union’s stringent privacy rules. The complaint, filed by Schrems’ campaign group Noyb with the Dutch data protection authority, alleges that X unlawfully used users’ political views and religious beliefs to target them with advertising.
According to the complaint, the European Union itself stands accused of exploiting X’s capabilities to target users based on their political and religious affiliations. Schrems alleges that he was shown an ad from the European Commission on X, which promoted child protection measures and online content regulation. However, he highlighted that this ad intentionally excluded certain “targeting segments,” such as Alternative for Germany, Vox, Sinn Fein, the English Defense League, and far-right politicians Viktor Orban and Marine Le Pen.
Moreover, the complaint asserts that the ad did not target individuals based on their usage of X with terms related to euroscepticism or nationalist political views. These allegations are specifically derived from X’s ad repository, as claimed in the filing.
X has yet to comment on the matter when reached out to by CNBC. The European Commission, in response to a CNBC email, acknowledged the reports and stated that it is conducting a thorough review. The Commission emphasized that it regularly provides updated guidelines to ensure compliance with regulations for its social media managers and external contractors. Additionally, the Commission mentioned its advice to refrain from advertising on X due to the escalating issues of disinformation and hate speech on social media platforms.
Source (CNBC)
