EU Slams Elon Musk’s X With $140m Fine Over Content Rule Breach

The European Union (EU), on Friday, imposed a hefty €120 million ($140 million) fine on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X Corp, for violating key provisions of the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), marking the first major sanction under the landmark regulation.

According to EU tech regulators, X breached multiple transparency and safety obligations, including deploying deceptive blue-check verification labels, failing to maintain a compliant advertising repository, and denying researchers adequate access to public data.

Rival platform TikTok avoided a similar penalty after offering concessions to address EU concerns.

The fine comes amid heightened scrutiny of Big Tech, a move the Trump administration has repeatedly criticised as being unfair to American companies. However, the EU maintained that its regulations apply equally regardless of nationality and were designed to safeguard digital rights and protect users.

The sanction followed a two-year investigation into X’s handling of illegal and harmful content online. The Commission noted that the penalty reflects the nature and severity of X’s violations and their impact on EU users.

EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen dismissed claims that the DSA amounts to censorship, insisting that platforms that comply with the rules face no penalties. She also assured that forthcoming decisions on other charged companies, including Meta, TikTok, and Temu, will be concluded more swiftly.

X has between 60 and 90 working days to outline corrective measures, depending on the specific infringement. The company was yet to issue an official response.

Ahead of the ruling, US Vice President JD Vance criticised the move, alleging that the EU was punishing X for resisting censorship, an accusation EU regulators firmly rejected.

While TikTok works to improve transparency in its ad library, the Commission confirmed ongoing probes into illegal content dissemination and information manipulation on X, as well as investigations into TikTok’s algorithmic systems and child-safety obligations.

Under the DSA, non-compliant tech giants risk fines of up to 6% of their global annual revenue.