The European Union has decisively escalated its regulation of large technology companies. The European Commission levied a €120 million fine against the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. This action marks the first major non-compliance decision under the landmark Digital Services Act, or DSA. The ruling immediately ignited a fierce political dispute with the United States administration.
The fine addresses three significant breaches of the DSA’s transparency rules. The primary violation concerns the platform’s paid blue checkmark system. Regulators found that this paid verification process deceives users. It allows anyone to purchase an authenticity badge without any meaningful background verification. This deceptive design, the Commission argues, exposes users to manipulation, scams, and impersonation fraud.
The second breach relates to advertising transparency. The DSA requires platforms to maintain accessible ad repositories. These databases must allow researchers to scrutinize political campaigns, scams, and coordinated influence operations. The Commission found X’s ad repository lacks critical data. It also incorporates unnecessary access barriers and processing delays. This prevents researchers and the public from independently investigating advertising content.
The third violation involves researcher access to data. The DSA mandates that platforms provide eligible researchers with access to public data. This access is crucial for studying systemic risks on the platform, such as the spread of misinformation. X’s terms of service and complicated processes imposed unnecessary barriers. These rules effectively undermined essential independent research within the EU.
This enforcement action highlights the EU’s commitment to tech sovereignty. Officials stated the ruling defends user rights and promotes platform accountability. The Commission insists the fine targets a lack of transparency, not content or free speech.
The fine was quickly politicized across the Atlantic. Senior US officials, including the Vice President and the Secretary of State, criticized the decision. They accused the EU of targeting successful American companies and engaging in “censorship.” X’s owner, Elon Musk, publicly agreed with the US administration’s hardline stance. This transatlantic clash underscores the widening rift over digital governance.
The fine amount of €120 million represents a fraction of the maximum penalty possible under the DSA. The law permits fines up to six percent of a company’s global annual revenue for serious, repeated violations. The Commission calculated the penalty based on the severity and duration of X’s three transparency breaches.
X now faces immediate deadlines. The company must submit detailed compliance plans to the Commission within 60 to 90 days. Failure to address the violations could result in even larger, periodic penalty payments. The Commission’s wider investigation into X continues. This includes probes into the platform’s handling of illegal content and its content-promoting algorithms. The outcome of these broader investigations could potentially lead to far more substantial sanctions against the company.
