Elon Musk’s social media platform X has formally appealed a €120 million fine imposed by the European Union for violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), escalating a high-profile regulatory conflict. The appeals, filed this week at the EU’s Court of Justice, were submitted by X, its AI subsidiary, and Musk personally.
The fine, announced by the European Commission in December, relates to alleged breaches of the DSA’s transparency requirements. The Commission had accused X of employing a “deceptive” practice by providing blue verification checkmarks to paying users without clear labeling.
In a statement, X’s Global Government Affairs team condemned the decision, citing “grave procedural errors” and “systematic breaches of rights of defence.” The company alleged the investigation was incomplete and the interpretation of the DSA obligations was “tortured,” suggesting prosecutorial bias.
The dispute has taken on a political dimension. Musk has repeatedly accused the EU of deliberately targeting his platform to force censorship, claiming in 2024 that EU officials proposed an “illegal secret deal” to avoid fines if X quietly suppressed content. Following the fine, Musk called for the abolition of the EU.
Tensions between the United States and the EU have also surfaced. The US State Department sanctioned five EU officials, including former Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, who had previously threatened legal action over a planned broadcast of an interview with Donald Trump. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the sanctioned officials as “activists” coercing American platforms to censor speech.
Documents from the US House Judiciary Committee have further fueled the debate, revealing that the EU utilized the threat of DSA penalties to pressure multiple platforms into suppressing political content, including material described as “anti-migrant” and “populist rhetoric.”
X faces a sprawling array of regulatory scrutiny across Europe, with parallel investigations by EU, UK, Irish, French, and Spanish authorities, including probes into its Grok AI bot’s generation of explicit images.
The case will be closely watched as a pivotal test of the EU’s Digital Services Act and the extent of its enforcement power against major global tech firms. The Court of Justice’s ruling will set a significant precedent for digital content moderation and platform accountability in the European single market.
