The European Union on Friday slapped Elon Musk’s X with a 120 million euro, or roughly $140 million, fine in the first penalty under sweeping new tech regulations from Brussels.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, accused the social media company of breaching safety laws with “the deceptive design of its ‘blue checkmark,’ the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers.”
Musk’s company is the first to be fined under the EU’s Digital Services Act, a stringent new set of regulations aimed at cracking down on the spread of disinformation and illegal content online.
“Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU,” said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.
“We are holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability.”
The Trump administration has bashed the policy and urged European officials to ease tech regulations, arguing they amount to an attack on free speech.
“The EU should be supporting free speech,” Vice President JD Vance wrote in a Thursday post on X, “not attacking American companies over garbage.”
Musk replied: “Much appreciated.”
The Tesla and SpaceX billionaire has the option to appeal the ruling, though that could lead to a drawn-out legal battle.
His company has 60 days to respond with plans to address the allegations over its blue checkmarks, and 90 days to submit a plan to fix alleged problems with its ad depository and making data accessible to researchers.
Failure to comply with those requirements could lead to periodic fines.
X did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
In April 2023, the company formerly known as Twitter started unwinding its verification program by removing blue checkmarks from user profiles. The badges designated verified celebrities or public figures on the app.
Musk has revamped blue checkmarks so anyone can buy one, with X now designating accounts that pay for a premium subscription.
The European Commission warned this “deceptive design” could expose users to online scams and impersonation frauds.
The body said Thursday it plans to investigate whether Meta broke antitrust laws by allowing AI providers access to WhatsApp.
European lawmakers adopted the Digital Services Act in 2022 along with the Digital Markets Act. The legislative package represents the EU’s strictest attempt yet to hold social media platforms accountable for content on their platforms, including disinfo and illicit content.
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