The European Union on Friday imposed a €120 million fine on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, for breaching key transparency requirements under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
In a statement, the European Commission said X failed to comply with obligations related to transparency, including the misleading design of its blue checkmark system and refusal to provide researchers access to public data.
According to the Commission, changes to the verification system allowed users to pay for a badge without proper identity checks, exposing the platform to impersonation and fraud risks.
“This decision is about the transparency of X,” EU technology commissioner Henna Virkkunen said, insisting the move had “nothing to do with censorship.”
The penalty triggered swift criticism from senior U.S. officials.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, posting on X before the announcement, accused the EU of targeting American tech firms under the guise of censorship.
Following the Commission’s announcement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the fine as “an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people.”
The action marks the first DSA fine issued over content-related transparency.
The Commission said X also failed to meet disclosure requirements on advertising and did not offer adequate access to data for independent researchers, both mandatory under the law.
The platform remains under investigation for its handling of illegal content and information manipulation.
Under the DSA, the EU can impose fines of up to 6 percent of a company’s global revenue. Officials said the amount levied was “proportionate” to the violations.
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“We are here to enforce digital legislation,” Virkkunen said. “If you comply with our rules, you don’t get a fine.”
The decision comes amid ongoing disagreements between Brussels and Washington over the EU’s regulatory actions on major tech companies.
A national security strategy released Friday by the Trump administration criticised Europe’s approach as “regulatory suffocation.”
Meanwhile, French and German digital ministers welcomed the EU’s ruling, saying it underscored the bloc’s commitment to applying its digital rules uniformly.
In a separate development, the Commission said it had accepted commitments from TikTok regarding its advertising system, though the platform remains under DSA investigation for other issues.