The European Commission has imposed a €120 million ($140 million) fine on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, for violating transparency requirements under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The penalty marks the first non-compliance ruling under the regulation.
“With the DSA's first non-compliance ruling, we are holding X accountable for undermining users' rights and escaping responsibility,” said Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission's executive vice-president responsible for tech regulation. “Misleading users with blue checkmarks, obscuring ad information, and excluding researchers are unacceptable in the EU.”
The fine addresses three specific violations: deceptive design of the blue checkmark system (€45 million), an inadequate advertising repository (€35 million), and restricted data access for researchers (€40 million).
X's paid verification system allows users to purchase blue checkmarks through subscription without identity verification, a departure from the platform's previous practice of reserving checkmarks for authenticated public figures. The Commission determined this violates DSA prohibitions against deceptive design practices that impair informed user decisions.
The platform's advertising repository lacks comprehensive searchability and fails to include required details such as sponsor information and targeting parameters. According to the Commission, this prevents regulators and researchers from monitoring risks including foreign election interference.
X also restricts researcher access to public platform data through high fees, prohibitive terms of service including scraping bans, and limited API availability. The DSA requires very large platforms to enable independent research access for studying systemic risks such as misinformation.
X must submit action plans to address each violation. The company has 60 working days to resolve the blue checkmark issues and 90 days to present plans for improving research access and advertising transparency. Failure to comply will trigger additional periodic penalty payments.
For the verification system, X must either redesign the blue checkmark feature with clear labelling distinguishing paid subscriptions from verified accounts, or implement a meaningful authentication process. The advertising repository must become fully accessible and searchable, with comprehensive information on ad content, sponsors, and targeting criteria available to the public and researchers. X must also eliminate barriers to research access by removing prohibitive fees, restrictive terms, and providing affordable API access to qualified researchers.
Elon Musk responded to the fine on X, calling it “Bullshit” and claiming the EU offered an “illegal secret deal” for quiet censorship. He stated the penalty was imposed on him personally and vowed a “very public battle in court,” indicating X will appeal to the EU General Court in Luxembourg.
Musk's reference to an “illegal secret deal” appears to relate to the DSA's standard settlement procedure, under which companies can avoid fines by offering legally binding commitments to address violations voluntarily. X initially inquired about this mechanism through its lawyers before Musk rejected the terms, according to EU officials.
X suspended the European Commission's official advertising account, accusing the regulator of manipulating ad tools to promote its ruling. The Commission has dismissed this as retaliation.
US Vice President JD Vance criticized the decision, stating “the EU should be supporting free speech, not attacking American companies over garbage.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the fine “an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people,” adding that “the days of censoring Americans online are over.”
Musk amplified these responses, posting that “the EU should be abolished, and sovereignty returned to individual countries.
Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier emphasized that the decision targets transparency violations, not speech content. “The decision is about transparency obligations under the DSA, not about freedom of speech or targeting any particular company. Rules apply equally regardless of origin.”
Independent legal analysts, including the non-profit Tech Policy Press, note the fine addresses commercial deception rather than speech restrictions. The blue checkmark issue has been characterized as a consumer protection violation—selling verification without verifying identity—rather than content moderation.
The €120 million fine is notably smaller than recent penalties imposed on other US tech companies under EU regulations. In April 2025, Apple was fined €500 million and Meta €200 million under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DSA allows fines up to 6% of global annual revenue, which would amount to approximately €150-160 million for X based on revenue estimates.
