Eu Fines X $140 Million For Violating Landmark Digital Service Rules

The European Union has served Elon Musk’s X pinch a €120 million (about $140 million) punishment for violating nan bloc’s integer work rulebook, including complete nan “deceptive design” of its bluish checkmark. Today’s announcement marks nan first clip that a institution has been fined nether nan landmark Digital Services Act (DSA) rule for curbing “illegal and harmful activities” connected online platforms, and follows nan EU launching a multifaceted investigation into X successful December 2023.

“Deceiving users pinch bluish checkmarks, obscuring accusation connected ads and shutting retired researchers person nary spot online successful nan EU,” EU tech main Henna Virkkunen said successful a statement. “The DSA protects users. The DSA gives researchers nan measurement to uncover imaginable threats. The DSA restores spot successful nan online environment. With nan DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users’ authorities and evading accountability.”

In July 2024, nan EU preliminarily ruled that X was failing to comply pinch obligations astir advertizing transparency, information entree for researchers, and “dark patterns” — deceptive interface features designed to instrumentality users. X’s bluish checkmark strategy was specifically called retired for deceiving users by allowing anyone to salary to beryllium “verified,” making it harder to find nan authenticity of X accounts.

The EU tin complaint companies up to 6 percent of their world gross for DSA violations. As X is simply a backstage institution — purchased by Musk for $44 cardinal successful October 2022 and again by his artificial intelligence company, X AI, successful March 2025 for $33 billion — it’s unclear what its imaginable maximum punishment could person been. X tin entreaty nan fine, aliases could still scope a colony pinch nan EU by implementing changes that fulfill DSA compliance concerns.

European lawmakers had deliberated really ample a good to rumor according to The New York Times, reporting that regulators sought to make an illustration of X arsenic a informing to different companies while weighing nan risks of sparking retaliation from President Donald Trump amid ongoing waste and acquisition disputes. Musk alongside nan activity of  US tech giants person encouraged nan President to stop nan EU from taking advantage of their companies.

The 2023 investigation was besides launched to scrutinize X’s moderation practices and nan dissemination of forbidden aliases harmful contented connected nan platform, which is presently still ongoing and could incur further penalties.

The EU has criticized X complete rising levels of disinformation pursuing its acquisition by Musk. In January, EU lawmakers pledged to “energetically” push nan X investigation forward complete concerns pinch Musk’s promotion of Germany’s far-right statement leader connected nan platform. Musk has utilized X to rally down other far-right personalities and sparked outrage aft pulling a arguable gesture during his reside astatine Trump’s inauguration.

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