The European Union has fined Elon Musk’s social media platform X $140 million over its paid blue verification ticks and opaque advertising practices. The Commission said X “deceives users” by failing to properly verify account identities.
“This deception exposes users to scams, including impersonation frauds, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors,” the European Commission said.
The fine drew sharp criticism from US officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it “an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments,” adding, “The days of censoring Americans online are over.” Musk reposted Rubio’s statement, writing simply: “absolutely.”
FCC Chair Brendan Carr argued the EU targeted X for being “a successful US tech company,” saying: “Europe is taxing Americans to subsidise a continent held back by Europe’s own suffocating regulations.”
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US Vice-President JD Vance also weighed in, condemning the platform’s punishment “for not engaging in censorship” and asserting, “The EU should be supporting free speech, not attacking American companies over garbage.”
Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty at the Commission, highlighted X’s additional failings, including limited ad transparency and restricting researchers’ access to public data. “Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU,” she said.
The fine marks the EU’s first enforcement under its Digital Services Act (DSA), which governs content, advertising, and data practices for online platforms.
X’s paid blue tick system, launched after Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, has faced criticism for increasing impersonation risks and amplifying misleading content. Social media analyst Matt Navarra said: “It’s a trust signal not a transaction, but on X that was flipped. There’s no meaningful ID check, no rigorous validation, and that’s where the EU has drawn the line.”