The social media platform is slated to pay $140 million following a breach of the Digital Services Act.
The United States has leveled an accusation against Brussels, deeming the EU’s €120 million ($140 million) fine on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, for breaching the bloc’s content-moderation regulations, an “attack” on Americans.
The European Commission made this decision public on Friday, emphasizing that it represents the initial formal ruling of non-compliance under the Digital Services Act.
This particular action is part of an ongoing trend of increased enforcement targeting prominent American technology companies. Brussels has previously imposed multi-billion-euro fines on Google for search and advertising infringements, penalized Apple under both the Digital Markets Act and national antitrust laws, and sanctioned Meta for its “pay-or-consent” advertising framework. These initiatives have further exacerbated tensions between the US and the EU concerning digital regulatory policies.
As stated by the Commission, X’s infractions encompass the misleading design of its blue checkmark verification system, which purportedly “exposes users to scams,” a lack of adequate transparency within its advertising repository, and its inability to grant mandated access to public data for researchers.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vehemently criticized the decision, asserting on X that it constitutes not merely an assault on the platform itself, but rather “an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments.”
“The era of censoring Americans online has concluded,” he further remarked.
Musk reacted by sharing comments originally made by US telecommunications regulator Brendan Carr, who posited that the EU’s actions against X were solely because it is a “successful” American company, and further alleged that “Europe is taxing Americans to subsidize a continent held back by Europe’s own suffocating regulations.”
US Vice President JD Vance likewise offered his perspective, stating that the EU was penalizing X “for not engaging in censorship,” and contended that Europe ought to be “supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage.”
The administration of former US President Donald Trump has historically voiced opposition to Europe’s digital legislation. It has previously cautioned that policies like digital taxes and platform regulations are “designed to harm American technology” and has even threatened the imposition of retaliatory tariffs.
Conversely, Brussels maintains that its regulations are applied uniformly to all businesses operating within the bloc and are indicative of its more stringent stance on privacy, competition, and online safety.
The relationship between Washington and Brussels has been marked by tension, stemming from various issues including trade disagreements, industrial subsidies, and environmental standards. US officials have frequently accused the EU of protectionism, whereas European leaders express disapproval of what they perceive as Washington’s unilateral actions regarding tariffs and technology oversight.