It is well known that the EU loves to target American technology giants and fine them in various ways. META, Google, and Apple have all suffered losses. This time it is X’s turn. Thomas Regnier, spokesman for the European Commission in charge of digital economic affairs, confirmed that Musk’s X platform (formerly Twitter) had paid a huge fine of up to 120 million euros (approximately NT$4.2 billion) before the deadline. This is the first major fine issued by the EU under the Digital Services Act (DSA). However, the fine did not quell the controversy. Instead, it triggered a strong backlash from Musk, who even publicly threatened that “the European Union should be abolished.”
In December last year, the European Commission charged Platform X with three major violations under the Digital Services Act and issued a fine of €120 million. This is the first major fine issued by the European Union against a large technology platform since the full implementation of the DSA in 2024, and is of symbolic significance.
欧盟委员会设定的缴款截止日为 3 月 16 日，X 平台最终在期限前完成了付款义务。 Spokesman Renier said that although X has paid the relevant fine, they are still appealing the penalty, which means the legal battle has just begun.
Three violations: blue label certification, advertising transparency, and information openness
According to the European Commission’s investigation, Platform X is mainly involved in the following three violations of the DSA:
1. The misleading design of “Blue Label Certification”
The EU pointed out that the “blue check mark certification” mark of the X platform has a misleading design and violates the DSA’s obligation to prohibit deceptive design regulations. Before Musk acquired Twitter (now Platform However, after Musk took office, he changed it to a paid subscription function, and any user can obtain the “certification” mark by paying a monthly fee.
The EU believes that this “pay and verify” model makes it difficult for ordinary users to distinguish the authenticity of accounts, and it is easy to mistakenly believe that accounts with blue labels must be more trustworthy. This design flaw exposes users to the risk of fraud, including impersonation fraud and other forms of malicious operations.
2. Insufficient transparency of advertising database
Platform X’s advertising database fails to meet DSA transparency and accessibility requirements[3]. The EU noted that
In addition, X’s advertising database lacks key information, including the content topics of the ads and information about the legal entities paying for the ads, making it difficult for researchers and the public to independently review potential risks in online advertising.
3. Deny access to public materials
Platform The EU pointed out that X’s terms of service prohibit qualified researchers from independently accessing its public materials through crawlers and other methods, and that the process for accessing researchers’ materials set by X contains unnecessary obstacles.
Musk reacts strongly: “The European Union should be abolished”
Faced with this huge fine, Musk showed his usual tough stance. Shortly after the announcement of the fine in December 2025, he criticized the X platform in a post: “It is ridiculous that the EU not only imposed such a ridiculous fine on
Will be released laterpostSaid “the EU should be abolished”.
US government steps in: Transatlantic tech war heats up
This fine controversy is not only a confrontation between companies and regulatory agencies, but also a national-level trade dispute. The U.S. government publicly condemned the EU fine for X, arguing that the move specifically targeted U.S. companies. In fact, since 2025, the EU has launched a series of enforcement actions against U.S. technology companies in accordance with the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. The United States accuses EU regulations of being unfair to American technology companies, and uses tariffs on steel and aluminum products as a bargaining chip to demand that the EU “relax” regulations.
The European Union criticized the US move as “blackmail” and insisted that digital regulations are related to sovereignty and cannot be challenged. This transatlantic game over digital regulation is reshaping the competitive landscape of the global technology industry.
Follow-up development
虽然 X 平台已缴纳罚款并就「蓝标认证」提交了改善方案，但欧盟的监管压力并未解除。 According to EU requirements, in addition to the “Blue Label Certification”, the X platform also needs to submit improvement measures before April 28 for two other accusations: insufficient advertising transparency and data openness. The European Commission has made it clear that if the problem cannot be effectively resolved, it will not rule out imposing further penalties on X (Editor’s note: There are also previous cases where anyone on the X platform could be changed to wear a swimsuit may still be fined).这意味着马斯克与欧盟之间的这场监管拉锯战，仍将持续相当长的一段时间。
Source: KOCPC Chinese