Elon Musk's X hit with $140 million fine in Europe

The European Union fined X, the social platform owned by Elon Musk, $140 million Friday for violating one of the bloc's major laws targeting the technology industry. The case has been seen as a test of European officials' willingness to aggressively regulate tech companies at the risk of antagonizing the Trump administration.

X is the first company to be fined under the EU's Digital Services Act, a law intended to force large internet companies to protect their platforms against manipulation and illicit content. The Trump administration has criticized the policy as an attack on free speech and U.S. tech firms.

Regulators in Brussels said the penalty against X was not about free speech but about the company's lack of controls to prevent the platform from being abused. That included X's "deceptive design" that allowed users to mislead others about their identities, opaque advertising practices and refusal to provide independent researchers with access to public data.


"Deceiving users with blue check marks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU," Henna Virkkunen, the executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy for the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said in a statement. "We are holding X responsible for undermining users' rights and evading accountability."

X did not respond to requests for comment. Musk can appeal the ruling, which could set up a prolonged legal battle.

Several Trump administration officials posted on X in defence of Musk's platform. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the penalty was an attack on "the American people by foreign governments." Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, criticized Europe for "suffocating regulations."

"The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage," Vice President JD Vance said before the announcement Thursday.

Musk responded to Vance: "Much appreciated."

The X penalty had been expected to be announced earlier this year but was delayed during trade negotiations between the EU and United States.

The fine may not be the last X faces in the EU. A second, more far-reaching investigation is underway into the company's hands-off approach to policing content.