The European Union has delivered a landmark blow to Elon Musk's social media empire, imposing a hefty €120 million (£105 million) fine on the platform X for multiple breaches of its pioneering digital regulations.
A Landmark Ruling Under the Digital Services Act
This historic penalty marks the first major enforcement action against a major online platform since the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) came into full force in 2023. The European Commission announced the decision, concluding a two-year investigation into X's practices.
The commission found the company, formerly known as Twitter, in breach of its transparency obligations on three key fronts. Senior officials broke down the total fine into specific charges related to each violation.
The 'Deceptive' Blue Tick and Advertising Black Box
A central pillar of the ruling concerns X's verification system. The EU deemed the platform's revamped blue tick badge "deceptive." The commission stated that by allowing users to purchase verification through the X Premium subscription, the platform made it impossible for others to discern the authenticity of account holders.
This represented a fundamental shift from the pre-Musk era, where the badge was reserved for verified public figures, journalists, and organisations. The fine for this breach alone amounts to €45 million.
Furthermore, X was fined €35 million for failing to provide a transparent and searchable repository of all advertisements running on its service. The DSA mandates this to help researchers and watchdogs detect scams, illegal content, and coordinated disinformation campaigns, especially during elections.
Blocking Research and Wider Investigations
The third breach, carrying a €40 million penalty, involved X's refusal to provide required data access to researchers. This access is crucial for independent scrutiny of contentious issues like the spread of political content and manipulation on the platform.
This ruling is just the beginning of X's regulatory woes in Europe. The commission confirmed that three other formal investigations remain active. These probe deeper issues, including the potential dissemination of illegal content, the effectiveness of X's measures to combat information manipulation, and the platform's content recommendation algorithms, which were overhauled after Musk's acquisition in October 2022.
One investigation is specifically examining possible breaches of laws against incitement to violence and terrorism.
Collision Course with Musk and Transatlantic Tensions
The decision sets the European Commission on a direct collision course with Elon Musk, who has 90 days to submit an action plan in response. He retains the right to appeal the ruling to the European Court of Justice, a path other tech giants like Apple have taken.
The ruling also risks inflaming transatlantic tensions. It follows threats from US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who last week linked a reduction of EU steel tariffs to a reconsideration of the bloc's tech regulations—a move Spanish Commissioner Teresa Ribera labelled "blackmail."
EU officials stressed the fine was an independent regulatory decision, asserting the bloc's "sovereign right" to oversee major tech companies. They noted that 25 large platforms, including non-US firms like TikTok, are now under DSA scrutiny.
In a contrasting move, the commission announced it had secured voluntary commitments from TikTok to improve its advertising transparency, highlighting a different approach to compliance.
Under the DSA, fines can reach up to 6% of a company's global annual revenue. With X's 2024 revenue estimated between $2.5bn and $2.7bn, this first fine represents a significant warning shot from Brussels.
