Musk takes on EU as regulators defy Washington in U.S. Big Tech sweep
The post Musk takes on EU as regulators defy Washington in U.S. Big Tech sweep appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Elon Musk responded to the European Commission fining his social media platform, X, £120 million ($140 million) for violating its Digital Services Act (DSA). The regulator found X to be in violation of the EU’s digital regulations after a two-year investigation. US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, were also critical of the EU, claiming that the decision is an attack on American companies. Why did the EU fine Elon Musk’s company? Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has been fined £120 million ($140 million) for breaching the European Union’s digital regulations. The Digital Services Act was adopted in 2022 to regulate online platforms, but this is the first time the EU has issued a non-compliance decision under its rules. The fine covers three main violations confirmed during the two-year investigation, including the deceptive design of X’s blue checkmark system, the lack of transparency in its advertising repository, and failure to provide access to public data for researchers. Before Musk acquired X in 2022, the platform was known as Twitter, and blue checkmarks were largely reserved for celebrities, politicians and influential accounts. After the purchase, the site started issuing badges to anyone willing to pay $8 per month. European regulators argue this system makes it difficult for users to judge the authenticity of accounts and exposes them to scams and impersonation fraud. The fine breaks down into £45 million for the blue checkmark issue, £35 million for the advertising repository problems, and £40 million for blocking researchers from accessing public data. X now has 60 days to inform the Commission how it will fix the blue checkmark issues and 90 days to submit plans for fixing its advertising repository and researcher access problems. Failure to comply could lead to additional periodic penalty payments. How…
Filed under: News - @ December 9, 2025 12:27 am