A Berlin court has ordered X to hand over data on Hungarian election activity to researchers, ruling in favor of Democracy Reporting International after the platform refused the group’s access requests in November.
The ruling turns on the EU’s censorship law, the Digital Services Act, which requires large platforms to give external researchers access to data for scrutiny of election interference risks. X ignored that obligation. The European Commission fined it €40 ($47) million for that refusal, as part of a broader €120 ($141) million levy, in December.
X’s position throughout has been straightforward: don’t share the data. No response to press inquiries, no compliance, no engagement.
Hungary votes in April in what amounts to a test of Viktor Orbán’s power as he faces his rival Péter Magyar.
Hellbound and Down 