Elon Musk and senior Trump administration officials condemned the European Union after the European Commission announced a $140 million penalty against X for alleged violations of the Digital Services Act.
The decision, issued Friday, focused on transparency obligations that regulators said X failed to meet, including the presentation of paid verification, the completeness of the platform’s advertising repository, and access to public data for researchers.
Musk responded on X with a series of posts criticizing the penalty and calling for sovereignty to be returned to EU member states.
In his posts on Saturday, Musk wrote that the “EU should be abolished,” using the hashtag AbolishTheEU, and argued that the fine targeted him personally as well as the company.
He described the penalty as “crazy” and “bulls—,” adding that any response should be directed at the individuals who he said were responsible for the action. Musk also wrote that he loves Europe, but not what he called the EU’s bureaucracy.
What the EU said the case is about
The European Commission said the penalty addresses non-compliance with the DSA’s transparency provisions. Officials said the blue checkmark as implemented by X is deceptive, since anyone can pay for a badge without the company meaningfully verifying identity.
According to the Commission, that practice makes it harder for users to judge authenticity and exposes them to impersonation scams and other manipulation.
Regulators also said X’s ad repository does not meet accessibility and completeness requirements, which limits the ability of researchers and civil society organizations to detect scams, coordinated information operations and fake advertisements.
Commission officials emphasized that the ruling concerns transparency rather than content takedowns. Thomas Reigner, a spokesperson covering tech sovereignty, defense, space and research, said the decision “has nothing to do with content moderation” and is about disclosure that citizens inside the European Union are entitled to under the law. The Commission also cited failures to provide adequate access to public data for researchers, which the DSA treats as a tool for understanding systemic risks on large platforms.
Musk’s replies and the political reaction in Washington
Musk’s replies drew immediate attention because they framed the penalty as both a corporate and personal sanction. In response to an X post by Sen. Ted Cruz, who called the fine an “abomination” and urged President Donald Trump to impose sanctions until it is reversed, Musk said the action targeted him personally and that a proportional response would be appropriate. Musk repeated that view in follow-on posts Saturday, arguing that European regulators were punishing success and stifling speech.
Senior Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers lined up behind that argument. Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, wrote that the penalty is not only an attack on X but also on American tech companies and the American people. Vice President JD Vance said the EU should support free speech rather than attack American companies.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick argued that the DSA is designed to suppress free expression and U.S. innovation. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said Europe is penalizing a successful U.S. platform and using fines to prop up a continent constrained by regulation. Sen. Eric Schmitt said foreign bureaucrats have no right to tell Americans what they can say, and Sen. Rick Scott said the United States is finished looking the other way while foreign governments bully American companies.
The legal framework of the DSA
The Digital Services Act, adopted in 2022, sets obligations for online platforms that operate in the EU. For very large online platforms, it includes heightened requirements on risk assessment, data access for researchers, advertising transparency and user-facing design that avoids deceptive patterns.
The law authorizes fines for non-compliance. In this case, the Commission said X fell short on three fronts, and it used the DSA’s enforcement tools to levy a single penalty that totals $140 million.
Officials presented the action as part of a broader effort to prevent illegal and harmful activities online and to slow the spread of disinformation. They argued that searchable, complete ad repositories are essential for identifying scams and coordinated influence campaigns, and that researcher access to public data is necessary for independent scrutiny.
The Commission maintained that the decision does not instruct X to remove specific content and does not impose a moderation regime. Instead, it requires structural changes to disclosure and access.
