The tension between Silicon Valley and Brussels reached a new peak this week. The European Union‘s regulatory body, the European Commission, issued a significant €120 million (approximately $140 million) fine against Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (FKA Twitter). The core of the dispute revolves around the company’s decision to sell its formerly verified blue checkmarks, a move the EU has deemed deliberately “deceptive.”
The fine represents the first major enforcement decision under the EU’s landmark Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA is a set of rules that aim to hold large tech companies accountable for content and consumer safety. Regulators argue that X’s paid verification system, which grants a blue badge without requiring rigorous proof of identity, falsely implies authenticity.
US officials say the $140M X fine is overreach
According to the Commission, this non-verification deceives users. The blue check leads them to trust accounts that may actually be malicious actors, the EU alleges. This loophole, regulators claim, significantly exposes users to scams, impersonation frauds, and various forms of manipulation. They contend that while the DSA does not strictly require verification, it explicitly prohibits online platforms from making false claims about user verification.
The fine addresses two other key DSA violations as well: X’s failure to provide adequate transparency regarding its advertisements and its alleged refusal to grant researchers the necessary access to public data. A regulator stated that X was being “held responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability” by obscuring information and deceiving users with the blue badges.
US Vice President and FCC Chair Slams EU’s “Attack on Free Speech”
The ruling immediately sparked a strong reaction from prominent US officials. Some quickly came to the platform’s defense as the move was considered an attack on an American company. FCC Chair Brendan Carr took to X to accuse the European Commission of targeting the social media giant simply because it is a “successful US tech company.” He painted the fine as a regulatory overreach. Carr claimed that Europe was essentially “taxing Americans to subsidize a continent held back by its own suffocating regulations.”
The US Vice-President JD Vance shared this sentiment. He previously claimed the fine is a result of “not engaging in censorship.” This US opposition frames the clash as a philosophical battle between the EU’s desire for proactive, strict online regulation and the US preference for a hands-off, free-market approach.
The decision now puts pressure on X to disclose how it will bring its practices into compliance with the DSA. Should the company fail to address the specified violations, it faces the prospect of further, escalating periodic purposes, turning this initial penalty into a running battle over the future of digital content regulation. The role of the US government could also be key in the matter.
The post US Officials Condemn EU $140M Fine on X Over Blue Checkmark appeared first on Android Headlines.
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