Musk calls for EU to be abolished after €120 million fine for X
The South African billionaire’s social media platform was found to have breached EU rules
The European Commission criticised X for its blue checkmark system, failing to identify advertisers clearly and refusing researcher access to data
Koshiro K/Shutterstock
South African billionaire Elon Musk has called for the European Union to be dismantled after Brussels imposed a €120million penalty on his social media platform X for breaching the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
The fine, confirmed and announced on December 5 after a two-year investigation, is the first issued under the legislation’s content-related provisions.
The European Commission said X had misled users through the design of its blue checkmark system, failed to provide sufficient transparency around advertising, and blocked authorised researchers from accessing public data.
Mr Musk, who also owns Tesla, modified the blue checkmark system after purchasing then-Twitter in October 2022.
The DSA, which came into force in 2023 for the largest digital platforms, obliges them to show how content is promoted, to identify advertisers, and to provide vetted researchers with data needed to evaluate systemic risks.
The European Commission determined that “on X, anyone can pay to obtain the ‘verified' status without the company meaningfully verifying who is behind the account…thus exposing users to scams, including impersonation frauds.”
Mr Musk initially dismissed the ruling with an expletive in a reply to an official commission post.
He escalated his criticism on Saturday, stating that the EU “should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries, so that governments can better represent their people.”
He added that he admired Europe but not “the bureaucratic monster that is the EU.”
US support for Musk
Senior figures in Washington aligned themselves with Mr Musk.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the penalty as “an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments.”
Andrew Puzder, the US ambassador to the EU, called the fine an example of “regulatory overreach targeting American innovation” and said the administration opposed measures that “target US companies abroad.”
The commission rejected claims that the ruling amounted to censorship.
Henna Virkkunen, European Commission executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said the decision addressed specific breaches formally notified to X in July 2024.
“We are holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability,” she said.
European officials had long warned that the redesign of the blue checkmark risked confusing users by suggesting that paid subscribers were verified sources.
The commission also criticised X for failing to identify advertisers clearly and for refusing researcher access, which is required by the DSA.
X must submit a plan within 60 days explaining how it will fix the blue checkmark design, and has 90 days to address the transparency issues around advertising and data access.
