The European Union has fined the social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, €120 million (approximately $140 million) for violations of its landmark Digital Services Act (DSA). Announced on December 5, 2025, this is the first financial penalty levied under the sweeping law designed to combat illegal content and disinformation online.
European regulators stated the fine was due to X’s failure to implement adequate controls, citing three specific violations: its "deceptive design" around account verification via paid blue checks, a lack of transparency in its advertising repository, and unjustly denying data access to independent researchers. “Deceiving users with blue check marks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the E.U.,” said European Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen.
The penalty arrives amid significant geopolitical tension, drawing immediate criticism from high-level officials in the Trump administration. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the action an attack on "the American people by foreign governments," while Vice President JD Vance criticized "suffocating regulations." The fine had been anticipated earlier in the year but was reportedly delayed during U.S.-E.U. trade negotiations.
A separate, broader investigation into X's content moderation practices remains ongoing, indicating the company could face further penalties. In a contrasting move the same day, TikTok avoided a potential fine by agreeing to comply with the DSA's advertising transparency rules.