ALBAWABA- The European Commission on Friday imposed a €120 million ($140 million) fine on Elon Musk’s platform X, the first major penalty under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), after a two-year investigation found the company failed key transparency and consumer-protection requirements.
Regulators cited for three violations. The largest, a €45 million penalty, targets X’s paid blue-check system, which replaced legacy verification for public figures with a subscription model.
The Commission ruled the feature constitutes “deceptive design” because it allows anyone to purchase an authenticity badge, increasing the risk of fraud, impersonation, and disinformation.
Another €40 million fine was issued for blocking researchers’ access to public data needed to assess systemic risks, such as hate speech spread. A further €35 million was levied over opaque advertising repositories that make paid content difficult to distinguish from regular posts.
EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen defended the decision as essential to protecting Europe’s 450 million users: “Misleading verification, hidden ads, and shutting out researchers violate the DSA. Platforms must be accountable.” X must submit corrective plans within 90 days and may appeal to the European Court of Justice.
The ruling triggered immediate political backlash in Washington. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced the fine as “an attack on American tech companies by foreign governments,” while Vice President JD Vance accused Brussels of punishing X for resisting “garbage” content controls.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr added that the EU was effectively “taxing Americans” through burdensome regulation. The sharp rhetoric underscores widening U.S.–EU tensions over digital governance as the Trump administration weighs retaliatory tariffs.
While the financial impact on X, whose EU revenue exceeds €5 billion, is limited, the symbolic weight is significant. The case adds pressure on Musk’s platform, already hit by advertiser flight and a valuation drop to $19 billion, and marks a pivotal test of how far Europe’s new digital rulebook can reach into the business practices of U.S. tech giants.
