EU fines Elon Musk's X €120 million under Digital Services Act for multiple breaches
The European Union has imposed a €120 million fine on Elon Musk's social media platform X for several breaches under the Digital Services Act (DSA). This marks the first DSA ruling against a digital platform since the legislation came into force in 2023. Formal proceedings began in December 2023, with other investigations still ongoing.
The fine is divided into three parts: €45 million for the use of a deceptive blue tick verification badge, €35 million for failing to provide sufficient advertising transparency, and €40 million for restricting access to public data important for researchers. These breaches relate to changes in verification practices since Musk's takeover, including the introduction of paid blue ticks through X Premium.
The DSA allows fines of up to 6% of a platform's worldwide revenue, and X's estimated revenue for 2024 stood between $2.5 and $2.7 billion. The platform now has 90 days to submit an action plan addressing the fine and retains the right to appeal to the European Court of Justice.
In a related move to improve transparency, the EU secured commitments from TikTok to provide advertising repositories as required by the DSA. These repositories aim to make political advertising and scams more accessible for study by researchers and civil society.
