EU regulators hit Elon Musk’s X with 120 million euro fine for breaching bloc’s social media law
The €120 million fine is the EU's first under the Digital Services Act for misleading verification, ad transparency failures, and blocking researcher data access on X.
- On Friday, the European Commission fined Elon Musk's social media platform X €120m under the Digital Services Act after a two-year investigation.
- EU regulators said X breached transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act by using a deceptive blue checkmark design, opaque ad repository, and denying researcher access.
- The Commission broke the penalty into 45 million, 40 million and 35 million components tied to specific breaches, with X having 60 and 90 days to submit remedies, and 'Failure to comply with the non-compliance decision may lead to periodic penalty payments.'
- Facing US criticism and the prospect of legal challenge, X can appeal the Commission's decision in European courts, while Henna Virkkunen insisted, 'We are not here to impose the highest fines' and US Vice President JD Vance criticised the move.
- As the EU issues its first DSA sanction, the ruling establishes a precedent for wider enforcement across the 27-nation European Union, with ongoing investigations into X's handling of illegal content and algorithmic systems and other probes into TikTok continuing.
479 Articles
479 Articles
GLASSNER: Left’s war on free speech moving from social media to TV
When Elon Musk bought X, formerly Twitter, and refused to comply with the global censorship regime, he became a target overnight — especially for European Union bureaucrats determined to reassert control over online speech. The EU’s latest effort to slap X with a $140 million penalty is just the most recent example of that campaign. The EU claims the fine is due to X allowing users to purchase verification checkmarks without the platform indepen…
EU Fines X £105M and Orders Fix for 'Deceptive' Blue Checks
The European Union has fined X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, €120 million (approximately £105 million or $140 million) for breaching online safety rules. The European Commission ruled that the platform's 'blue check' verification system is deceptive because it tricks users into thinking accounts are trustworthy when they have merely paid a fee rather than undergoing any meaningful vetting process.This marks the first majo…
EU says it will ‘make sure’ Elon Musk pays €120 million X fine
The European Commission has insisted Elon Musk’s X will have to pay a €120 (£105) million fine for violating EU transparency rules. The Commission has called Musk’s blue-check badge system ‘deceptive’ and noted that paid verification makes users more vulnerable to counterfeits and fraud. The Commission issued the penalty for breaches of transparency and deceptive design obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act on Friday. X was also fined …
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