"Civil society files joint DSA complaint against X for targeting people with ads using their sensitive personal data", July 16, 2025

Joint complaint based on research by AI Forensics on X’s use of sensitive personal information

... EDRi, AI Forensics, Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe, Entropy, Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte e.V. (GFF), Global Witness, Panoptykon Foundation, Bits of Freedom, and VoxPublic lodged a formal complaint about violations of Article 26(3) of the Digital Services Act (DSA) by X (formerly Twitter).

AIF investigated X’s Ad Repository and found that X allowed major brands as well as public and financial institutions to target online advertising based on especially sensitive categories of personal data that are protected by the GDPR, such as political opinions, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and health conditions. This type of data is considered inherently sensitive because it can reveal deeply personal aspects of a person’s identity, and can lead to increased risk of discrimination, harm and violations of users’ fundamental rights.

The use of such sensitive data by online platforms for targeted advertising is prohibited under the DSA.

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What now?

The civil society organisations have filed the complaint with Digital Services Coordinators in France, Germany and the Netherlands and call on these authorities to protect people and communities from discriminatory or exploitative profiling that undermines their rights by promptly investigating X’s behaviour.

Platforms operating at the scale and influence of X must be held to the highest standards of compliance to EU’s laws. As organisations committed to digital rights, transparency, and democratic integrity, we will continue to monitor developments closely and support the enforcement of the DSA.

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