The European Union has fined Elon Musk’s social media platform X €120 million ($140 million) for breaking the Digital Services Act (DSA) several times. This is the first time this important law has been broken. After the 2022 takeover, regulators went after X’s switch to a paid “blue checkmark” system. This lets anyone buy verification without proper identity checks, which confuses users about the authenticity of their accounts and increases the risk of scams.
X broke DSA rules about being open in three main ways. First, the blue checkmark now means that someone has paid for something instead of that their identity has been verified. This makes it hard for users to know if the content is reliable. Second, X’s advertising database doesn’t have important information about sponsors and targeting, which makes it harder to find scams or misleading political ads. Third, the platform doesn’t let researchers see public data like views and likes, which makes it harder for EU users to do systemic risk analysis.
The fine has upset U.S. officials, including Trump supporters who say it is a violation of free speech in the middle of tensions between the U.S. and the EU. X must send the European Commission plans for how they will follow the rules, or they will keep getting fines. A wider investigation into content moderation is also going on. Elon Musk hasn’t said anything publicly, but the platform can appeal, which could make the disagreement last longer.
