The European Commission has imposed a €120 million fine on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, following the conclusion of a two-year investigation into potential violations of the Digital Services Act.
The penalty marks the first formal non-compliance ruling issued under the DSA since the legislation took effect in 2022.
According to the European Commission, the breaches involved a combination of misleading platform design choices, insufficient transparency around advertising, and restrictions on researcher access to publicly available data.
Officials said X failed to meet three core obligations required of very large online platforms operating within the bloc.
Blue Checkmark System Deemed “Deceptive Design”
One of the central factors behind the ruling was X’s approach to its blue checkmark system.
Under Musk’s ownership, the checkmark — once an indicator of identity verification — became available to any user who pays a subscription fee.
EU regulators argue this shift constitutes a deceptive design because it can mislead the public into believing that accounts with the symbol represent verified individuals or organisations.
The Commission said such a system risks confusing users and undermines the reliability of information shared on the platform.
The ruling states that X did not implement sufficient safeguards to ensure users understood the meaning of the badge under the new system.
Failures in Advertising Transparency and Research Access
The Commission also found X’s advertising repository to be incomplete and inaccessible in important areas.
Platforms designated under the DSA must maintain detailed, publicly available records about the political, commercial, and issue-based advertisements that appear on their services.
Investigators said X failed to provide consistent information about advertisers, ad content, targeting criteria, and funding details.
In addition, X was cited for blocking or severely restricting access to public data for external researchers.
Regulators stressed that this access is essential for academic institutions and watchdog groups that study misinformation, political advertising, and online safety.
Commission Warns X to Correct Issues Within a Fixed Timeline
Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said the ruling emphasises that “deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU.”
She added that the Commission is “holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability.”
X now has 60 days to outline how it plans to resolve the issues associated with blue checkmarks.
The company also has 90 days to present a compliance plan addressing deficiencies in its advertising transparency and researcher access tools.
Failure to meet these deadlines could result in recurring penalty payments until the platform reaches full compliance.
When responding to a post from the European Commission about the ruling, Elon Musk wrote “Bullshit,” but the company otherwise declined to provide further comment.
Broader Impact on Big Tech Regulation
The fine arrives at a time when U.S. officials have been pressuring European regulators to take a lighter approach to restrictive technology legislation, including the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act.
Despite this, Brussels continues to apply strict scrutiny to major platforms.
The ruling against X comes just one day after the Commission announced a separate antitrust investigation into Meta regarding a policy that may grant AI providers expanded access to WhatsApp user data.
The enforcement action highlights the EU’s willingness to assert regulatory authority over some of the world’s largest technology firms.
The Commission has stated that the DSA is intended to ensure transparency, accountability, and user safety across the digital ecosystem.
With this being the first non-compliance decision issued under the law, observers expect it will set an important precedent for future enforcement actions.