A German court has dealt a legal blow to Elon Musk’s platform, X, ruling that the platform must immediately grant researchers access to data on politically related content ahead of the country’s elections, scheduled for February 23rd.
The court ruling, issued on Thursday, is one of the first major legal tests of the European Union’s (EU) Digital Services Act (DSA), raising new questions about X’s compliance with European regulations ahead of Germany’s federal elections.
The lawsuit, filed last week by Democracy Reporting International (DRI) and the Society for Civil Rights (GFF), accuses X of blocking attempts to monitor potential election interference by denying access to key engagement data – including likes, shares, and visibility metrics – that other platforms have made available to researchers.
Social media platforms, including X, are already facing investigations by the European Commission for allegedly failing to mitigate the risks of election interference. Russia was accused of meddling in Romania’s annulled presidential elections late last year through a TikTok campaign supporting a pro-Kremlin candidate.
This case further heightens tensions between European regulators and Musk’s platform over reduced content moderation and refusal to comply with data access requests.
The DSA, which came into effect in 2022, requires major platforms to grant researchers access to data to study systemic risks. The Commission had already accused X in July last year of violating the DSA by failing to meet researchers’ data access requests. It also investigated Meta last year over its decision to shut down the CrowdTangle research tool.
The Berlin Regional Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, issuing an emergency injunction that forces X to provide real-time access to the requested data through its online platform by February 25th. The ruling also orders X to cover court costs and imposes a 6.000 euro fine, setting a precedent for how European courts might enforce transparency obligations under the DSA.
X has not responded to a request for comment.
“The digital space is not a lawless zone, and I believe X will now comply quickly,” said Michael Meyer-Resende, DRI’s executive director, adding that the platform’s refusal to cooperate had “forced” legal action.
The Berlin court’s decision is one of the first major tests of the DSA’s data access provision for research (Article 40), designed to enable social media research and support regulatory implementation.
TikTok and Meta have granted DRI access to data under very similar applications, media reported last week.
“The ruling is a huge success for research freedom and democracy,” said Simone Ruf, deputy director of GFF’s User Rights Center. “We fought for access to vital research data, and we are now blocking attempts to manipulate elections.”
With just over two weeks until election day, the question now is whether X will comply with the ruling or attempt to delay it through legal appeals.
