Bloomberg reports that the European Commission has imposed a €120 million ($140 million) fine on X, Elon Musk’s social media platform, for breaching the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). This marks the first penalty issued under the new censorship law, which aims to regulate online platforms and “protect” users from illegal content and disinformation.
According to the Commission’s statement, X was found to have misled users with its paid-for blue checkmark verification symbol, failed to provide researchers with access to data, and did not properly set up an advertising repository. The fine, while lower than expected, is still set to escalate tensions between the EU and the White House over free speech and tech regulation.
Vice President JD Vance posted to X in advance of the fine, warning that “The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage.”
Breitbart News previously reported that Vance said Europe was at risk of “civilizational suicide” based on its mass migration and censorship policies:
In an interview published on Friday evening with Fox News’s Laura Ingraham, Vice President Vance doubled down on his critique of the globalist agenda that dominates much of Europe, warning that, ultimately, it may be the downfall of the “the cradle of Western civilization”.
“The entire idea of Christian civilisation that led to the founding of the United States of America was formed in Europe. The cultural bonds, the religious bonds – these things are going to last beyond political disagreements,” Vance said.
“But I think that Europe, and frankly, I would have said this about America a year ago, is at risk, I think, of engaging in civilizational suicide.”
Interestingly, the fine was not based on the revenues of Musk’s vast private business empire in space, infrastructure, and neuroscience, which regulators had initially considered targeting. The relatively light penalty is a small fraction of Musk’s $467 billion net worth.
The probe into X began in December 2023 but gained more political significance as Musk backed President Donald Trump’s campaign and served as a close adviser to the president as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for several months during Trump’s current term.
EU digital chief Henna Virkkunen emphasized that this was the first non-compliance decision under the DSA and that the precedent would help expedite future investigations. X has 60 days to develop solutions to address the issues and 90 days to implement the changes, or it may face additional fines.
Under the DSA, which took effect in 2023, the EU can impose fines of up to six percent of an online platform’s annual global revenue for failing to address illegal content, disinformation, or transparency rules. The Commission stated that the fine was based on the “principle of proportionality” rather than revenues.
The EU is also investigating several other major US tech firms, including Apple, Google, and Meta, under the DSA and the Digital Markets Act, which aims to prevent companies from abusing their market dominance. The bloc has recently issued substantial fines against Apple and Meta under its digital antitrust rules and has also imposed hefty penalties on other firms, such as Google and Apple, under traditional competition law.
The X probe also includes several other potential DSA breaches that could result in additional fines in the future. Investigations into more serious concerns about X’s policing of illegal content, election disinformation, and use of Community Notes have not yet reached the preliminary findings stage.
Read more at Bloomberg here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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