The European Union on Friday imposed a €120 million ($140 million) fine on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, for violating transparency rules under the bloc’s sweeping Digital Services Act (DSA). This is the first penalty issued by the EU under the DSA for content-related violations and immediately sparked a diplomatic confrontation with the United States.
The penalty follows a formal DSA investigation into X, formerly Twitter, that began in December 2023. The European Commission found X in breach of three main transparency obligations:
Deceptive Design of the Blue Checkmark: Regulators found that Musk’s overhaul of the platform’s blue checkmark system—which allows users to pay for verification without proving identity—amounts to a “deceptive design.” The Commission stated that X’s claim that these are “verified accounts” is misleading, as no meaningful verification took place. This exposes users to scams, impersonation fraud, and manipulation.
Lack of Advertising Transparency: X’s advertisement repository was found to be inadequate. The DSA requires platforms to maintain a publicly accessible database of all ads, including information on who paid for them and the intended audience, to help researchers detect scams and influence campaigns. The Commission said X’s repository lacks critical information and incorporates access barriers.
Failure to Provide Researcher Access to Public Data: X was found to have imposed “unnecessary barriers” and restrictions—including in its terms of service—for independent researchers seeking access to the platform’s public data. This undermines research into systemic risks in the EU.
EU technology commissioner Henna Virkkunen defended the action, saying: “This decision is about the transparency of X,” stressing that the action had “nothing to do with censorship” and rejecting Vance’s accusations. She added: “Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU.”
The fine was calculated based on the nature, gravity, and duration of the infringements, though regulators opted for a “proportionate” penalty despite having the legal authority to impose fines of up to six percent of a company’s global revenue.
The decision set up a direct confrontation with the US administration of President Donald Trump. Even before the fine became public, US Vice President JD Vance warned Brussels against what he called “attacking American companies through censorship.” Musk responded to Vance’s public remarks on X with, “Much appreciated,” underscoring the political tensions.
Other US officials joined the criticism, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling the fine “an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments.”
Meanwhile, European officials insisted the rules apply universally. France’s digital affairs minister, Anne Le Henanff, called the ruling “historic,” saying Europe had shown it could “move from words to action” despite US pressure.Germany’s digital minister, Karsten Wildberger, echoed the sentiment, insisting the bloc’s digital rules “apply to everyone, no matter where they come from.”
X has strict deadlines to comply: 60 working days to address the blue checkmark issues and 90 working days to submit an action plan for fixing the advertising repository and data access issues. Additional probes into X’s handling of illegal content and disinformation remain ongoing.
