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Musk calls for EU’s abolition after $140m fine on X
The European Commission has fined X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, €120 million (US$140 million) for violating the EU’s Digital Services Act.
Elon Musk publicly criticized the decision and called for the European Union to be abolished, arguing that sovereignty should return to individual countries.
Top US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the US ambassador to the EU, also objected to the fine, describing it as regulatory overreach targeting American tech firms.
Failure to comply could result in further penalties for X.
The Commission said X breached rules on the design of its blue checkmark, failed to provide transparent ad records, and did not give researchers access to public data.
The investigation followed the adoption of the Digital Services Act in 2022, and lasted two years.
X has 60 days to submit a plan to address the blue checkmark issue, and 90 days for the ad and data access concerns.
🔗 Source: CNBC
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
DSA fines can reach 6% of global revenue, so X’s €120 million hit may be only the start
- DSA Article 52 allows fines up to 6% of annual worldwide turnover with daily penalties up to 5% of average daily worldwide turnover 1. X faces €120 million now but risk grows if deadlines slip for the blue checkmark and ad transparency plus researcher data access.
- The Commission fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) 2. That track record puts Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) on notice, with temporary service suspension possible in extreme cases involving serious harm 3.
Compliance tools can target VLOPs and VLOSEs racing to meet ad transparency
- Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) must run public ad repositories with search tools and APIs that list details for each ad served 4. Implementing rules adopted in November 2024 set standardized templates from July 2025, which creates demand for compliance infrastructure (software and processes to meet legal obligations) 5.
- B2B SaaS firms can build ad transparency systems and researcher data-access platforms with secure pipelines plus access logging 6. They can also ship UI (user interface) audit tools to spot dark patterns (manipulative design tactics) in recommender systems, which personalize and rank content 6.
- VLOPs and VLOSEs face six-month reporting cycles and must give vetted researchers (qualified independent researchers approved under the rules) data access for systemic risk analysis, which creates recurring compliance needs across platforms beyond X 5.
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