- EU fines Elon Musk’s X €120m.
- Violated digital laws and regulations.
- Breach related to online content rules.
The EU claimed that a "deceptive" blue tick verification emblem provided to users and the lack of transparency in the platform's advertising were among the breaches that were under investigation for two years.
According to the commission's regulations, internet businesses must make a list of their advertisers available to the public in order to protect their organizational structures from illicit frauds, phony ads, and coordinated campaigns during political elections.
The EU also found that X had not given researchers, who usually monitor controversial topics like political content, the necessary access to public data in a third violation.
The European Commission's decision concludes a portion of an investigation that began two years ago.
In the first decision against the business since the legislation governing the content of social media and other tech platforms went into effect in 2023, the commission announced on Friday that it had found X in violation of its transparency duties under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The commission began formal procedures in December 2023 to determine whether X might have violated the DSA in areas related to the distribution of illicit content and the efficacy of the steps adopted to prevent information manipulation. The investigation is still ongoing.
X may be penalized up to 6% of its global income under the DSA, which was projected to be between $2.5 billion (£1.9 billion) and $2.7 billion in 2024.
After Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022 and rebranded it as X, there are still three investigations, two of which are related to the content and algorithms that promote content.
The committee is still looking into potential violations of rules that forbid inciting violence or terrorism.
Additionally, it is investigating how people can report and flag content they think is unlawful.
According to senior officials, the fine was divided into three parts: €40 million for data access violations related to research, €35 million for violations of ad restrictions, and €45 million for the introduction of a "verification" blue tick that users could purchase, making it impossible for others to verify the legitimacy of account holders.
The US vice president, JD Vance, reminded the EU that it "should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage" in a post on X addressing rumors of the verdict on Thursday.
"Much appreciated,"
Musk replied in a reply post.
Prior to Musk's takeover of Twitter, blue ticks were exclusively given to verified account holders, such as public figures, politicians, celebrities, verified journalists from mainstream media, and established new media like YouTubers and bloggers. Users with X Premium subscriptions were eligible for blue tick status following the takeover.
The executive vice-president of the European Commission in charge of regulating technology, Henna Virkkunen, stated:
“With the DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability.
Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU.”
The decision might infuriate Trump's administration. Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, stated last week that in order to lower steel tariffs by 50%, the EU must take into account its IT laws.
Teresa Ribera, the EU commissioner in charge of Europe's green transition and antitrust enforcement, called his threats "blackmail."
The decision, according to senior EU officials, was unaffected by the US delegation's requests to meet with trade ministers in Brussels last week. They claimed that the EU still had the "sovereign right" to control US tech firms, with 25 companies including non-US firms like TikTok falling under the DSA.
Musk, who is poised to become the first trillionaire in history, has ninety days to devise a "plan of action" to address the issue. However, he also has the option to challenge any decision made by the EU, just as others, like Apple, have done in the past, bringing their case before the European Court of Justice.
In response to the commission's concerns over transparency in May, the EU has announced that it has obtained promises from TikTok to supply advertising repositories.
In order to enable researchers and civil society representatives "to detect scams, advertisements for illegal or age-inappropriate," the DSA mandates that platforms keep an easily accessible and searchable archive of the advertisements that are running on their services.
Senior officials stated that unless social media businesses follow the laws, it is impossible to study the phenomenon of false political advertisements or advertisements with fictitious personalities.
A request for comment has been sent to X. According to the EU, the decision was communicated to the corporation.
How will the fine affect X operations in the EU?
The €120 million DSA fine imposes a modest fiscal megahit on X (under 1 of estimated 2025 profit), but authorizations functional changes within 60- 90 days, including redesigning paid blue checkmarks, perfecting announcement depository translucency, and granting experimenter data access, potentially adding compliance costs by knockouts of millions annually.
X must catch verification to help" deceptive design" enabling swindles, enhance public announcement data availability, and lift experimenter walls, diverting engineering coffers from features amid ongoing DSA examinations into content temperance and child safety.
The ruling escalates EU- US tech pressures, egging Musk's advocacy for US" suppression guard" laws and implicit platform adaptations favoring non-EU requests, though X vows to dispute while maintaining operations under heightened scrutiny.