News in brief: EU Pushes to Conclude Investigation into X’s Content Moderation; Reddit Introduces New Features for Advertisers; Livestreaming Shopping App Whatnot’s Valuation Rises to $5B

EU Pushes to Conclude Investigation into X’s Content Moderation

Top officials in the European Commission (EC) have committed to pushing forward an investigation into whether X has breached the region’s content moderation law under the Digital Services Act (DSA), reports Bloomberg. Henna Virkkunen – the EC’s executive vice-president for technological sovereignty, security and democracy – and justice chief Michael McGrath, said that the commission would come to a conclusion “as early as legally possible” for the investigation which was opened back in 2023. The investigation’s preliminary findings, released last July, found the platform in breach of the DSA “in areas linked to dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers.” The EC’s push to conclude this investigation comes just as Meta announces plans to follow in X’s footsteps when it comes to deciding which posts on its platforms are misleading, deciding to scrap its current third-party fact-checking programme. 

Reddit Introduces New Features for Advertisers

Reddit has introduced a range of new features to help marketers and businesses to connect with users in the context of conversations on its platform. Released a year after Reddit Pro (its free suite of tools for businesses), Reddit Pro Trends allows businesses to see what people are saying about almost anything on Reddit, making it easier for marketers to build an organic strategy for the platform. Specifically, marketers will be able to track any keyword or phrase of their choice to see when, where, and how it is being discussed by users in real-time. Additionally, marketers will have access to over 100,000 pre-programmed keywords and phrases. Reddit also announced the launch of a new ad format, AMA Ads. 

Livestreaming Shopping App Whatnot’s Valuation Rises to $5B

Whatnot, a livestreaming shopping platform founded in 2019, has raised USD$265m (£215m) through its latest round of funding, bringing its valuation to USD$4.97bn (£4bn), reports the WSJ. The platform allows buyers and sellers to transact in real-time; its most popular product categories include women’s fashion and sports cards. The company reports that its sales volume doubled last year, with its annual gross merchandise value of goods for livestream sales having surpassed £3bn (£2.4bn).