EU regulator fines Elon Musk’s Ax €120M for breaching content rules

Elon Musk’s social media company$193.3 million CDN) by EU tech regulators on Friday for violating online content rules, the first sanction under the landmark legislation, which once again drew criticism from the US government.

While X did not respond to an emailed request for comment, Musk replied “Bulls–t” Under a post from the European Commission about fines. He also reposted several messages criticizing the decision, writing, “Freedom of expression is the basis of (Of) democracy. That’s the only way to know who you’re voting for.”

X’s rival TikTok avoided the fine with concessions.

Europe’s crackdown on Big Tech, meant to ensure smaller rivals can compete and consumers have more choices, has been criticized by the Trump administration, saying it isolates US companies and censors Americans.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said its laws do not target any nationality and that it is merely defending its digital and democratic standards, which typically serve as benchmarks for the rest of the world.

EU tech chief says fine is not censorship

The EU sanction against X followed a two-year-long investigation under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires online platforms to do more to tackle illegal or harmful content.

The EU investigation into ByteDance’s social media app TikTok led to allegations in May that the company had violated a DSA requirement to publish an ad repository allowing researchers and users to detect scam ads.

European Commission technical chief Hanna Virkkunen said Ax’s modest fine was proportionate and calculated based on the nature of the infringements, their seriousness in terms of affected EU users and their duration.

“We’re not here to impose the highest fines. We’re here to make sure that our digital laws are enforced and if you follow our rules, you won’t get fined. And it’s as simple as that,” he told reporters.

“I think it’s very important to underline that the DSA has nothing to do with censorship.”

He said the upcoming verdict on companies accused of DSA violations is expected to take less time than the two years taken in the X case.

VP Vance says EU should not attack US companies

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr condemned the EU fines.

“The European Commission’s $140 million (We) The fine is not just an attack on @X, it is an attack by foreign governments on all US technology platforms and the American people. “The days of censoring Americans online are over,” Rubio posted on Twitter.

Carr said on X that the sanction shows that Europe is fining a successful American tech company for being a successful American tech company.

Meta and TikTok were accused of violating DSA transparency obligations in October, while Chinese online marketplace Teemu was accused of violating rules meant to prevent the sale of illegal products.

X has 60 to 90 working days to take measures to comply with the DSA, the time frame depends on the issue.

Before the EU decision, US Vice President JD Vance said on X, “Rumours are spreading that the EU Commission will fine X millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech, not attacking US companies over garbage.”

TikTok, which had promised to make changes to its ad library more transparent, urged regulators to apply the law equally and consistently across all platforms.

EU regulators said X’s DSA violations included the misleading design of its blue checkmark for verified accounts, the lack of transparency of its ad repository and its failure to provide researchers with access to public data.

The commission said the investigation into the spread of illegal content on TikTok and steps taken to combat information manipulation and a separate investigation into TikTok’s design algorithm systems and responsibility to protect children will continue.

DSA fines can be up to six percent of a company’s annual global revenue.