European Union imposed a landmark €120 million ($140 million) fine on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, formerly called Twitter, for breaching digital transparency rules. The penalty, the first of its kind under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), immediately sparked a fierce diplomatic confrontation with the United States, with top officials in Washington framing the move as an attack on American free speech. The high-profile probe was widely viewed as a test of the EU’s resolve to police Big Tech. However, the decision has drawn a sharp rebuke from the Trump administration, highlighting growing tensions over digital governance across the Atlantic.

Washington Fires Back

Even before the penalty was officially announced, US Vice President JD Vance warned Brussels against “attacking” US firms through “censorship.” Following the announcement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio escalated the rhetoric.“The European Commission’s $140 million fine isn’t just an attack on X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments,” Rubio posted on X. “The days of censoring Americans online are over.”Vance had previously posted that the EU “should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage”—a sentiment to which Musk replied, “Much appreciated.”FCC chair Brendan Carr too joined the attack on EU. He accused the European Commission of targeting X merely because it was “a successful US tech company”. “Europe is taxing Americans to subsidise a continent held back by Europe’s own suffocating regulations,” he wrote.

Twitter Blamed of ‘Blue Check’ Deception

The European Commission stated that X was guilty of breaching the DSA’s transparency obligations. The core of the violation concerns the platform’s verification system. Regulators found that changes made to the “blue checkmark” system following Musk’s 2022 takeover meant that “anyone can pay” to obtain a badge of authenticity without X “meaningfully verifying who is behind the account.”“This deception exposes users to scams, including impersonation frauds, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors,” the Commission said in a statement.Additionally, the Commission cited X for failing to be sufficiently transparent regarding advertising and for denying researchers access to public data, a requirement under DSA rules.

Brussels defends the fine on Twitter, hits back

EU officials denied that the fine was politically motivated or related to silencing speech. “This decision is about the transparency of X” and has “nothing to do with censorship,” the bloc’s Technology Commissioner, Henna Virkkunen, told reporters, pushing back against the narrative coming from the White House.The fine lands EU in a complex political environment. The investigation into X began in December 2023 but appeared to stall over the last year. Brussels has had to weigh the enforcement of its digital laws against the reality of a new political landscape in the United States.With Donald Trump returning to the presidency this year, and Elon Musk maintaining influence within White House circles despite reported friction between the two men, EU officials face the prospect that regulating X will further strain relations with Washington.