Topline
Elon Musk’s X platform, formerly known as Twitter, has been slapped with a $140 million fine from the European Union over what regulators called “deceptive” design that allow users to obscure their identities, questionable advertising practices and policies that are “undermining users’ rights and evading accountability.”
Elon Musk and the X logo.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Key Facts
The fine issued Friday makes X the first company to be punished under the European Union’s new Digital Services Act, a sweeping regulation that established a framework meant to hold online platforms accountable, monitor content and ensure platform transparency.
The law has been largely criticized by the Trump administration, which has claimed it aims to stifle free speech and weeks ago said any country with such regulations would be dinged in the State Department’s annual human rights report.
The fine against X is seen largely as an example of the European Union’s willingness to regulate American-based internet companies despite the furor of the Trump administration.
Musk, who can appeal the ruling, hasn’t commented on the fine directly but did retweet a post by lawyer Preston Byrne promoting a “foreign censorship shield law” he has suggested to Congress called the GRANITE Act, which Byrne said would “allow X to sue the European Commission in U.S. federal court for three times this amount, and get injunctive relief against the Commission’s orders.”
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Why Did The European Union Fine X?
In a statement announcing the fine, the European Commission attacked X’s policies on account verification, advertising practices and for allegedly failing to provide researchers with access to the platform’s public data. Before Musk, X users like celebrities or politicians who’d had their identities verified were granted a blue checkmark on their accounts that symbolized they were who they said they were claiming to be. Under Musk, the policy was changed to allow anyone who pays a fee to add the blue checkmark to their account, a change the European Commission said makes it “difficult for users to judge the authenticity of accounts and content they engage with.” The group called the pay-to-play policy deceptive and said it exposes users to scams, including fraud, and “other forms of manipulation by malicious actors.” The group also said the advertising policies on X “fails to meet the transparency and accessibility requirements of the Digital Services Act, allowing “hybrid threat campaigns, coordinated information operations and fake advertisements” to run rampant. The company has also reportedly stopped researchers from independently accessing its public data, which violates the terms of the Digital Services Act and stops them from assessing “several systemic risks” to the EU.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/12/05/elon-musks-x-hit-with-140-million-fine-in-europe-for-deceptive-design/
