Brussels, December 5, 2025 – The European Union fined X, the platform owned by Elon Musk, $140 million today. EU regulators say X broke digital transparency rules. They point to two main problems.
- First, the blue checkmark system misled users. Many paid for verification, but it no longer clearly showed their real identity.
- Second, X hid data about political ads. Companies and researchers could not see who paid for ads or how much they spent.
Margrethe Vestager, EU competition chief, said: “Rules are rules. Big platforms must follow them.” X now has three months to pay the fine or appeal. This is not the first clash. The EU already fined X in 2024 under the Digital Services Act.
Elon Musk called the fine an “unfair attack on free speech” on X minutes after the news. The EU replied: “This is about honesty, not speech.” Here is the X post from the EU Commission.
Today, we fined X for non-compliance with transparency obligations under the DSA.
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) December 5, 2025
We're holding X accountable for:
🔹Deceptive design of its ‘blue checkmark’
🔹Lack of transparency of its advertising repository
🔹Failure to provide access to public data for researchers
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The $140 million fine is small for Musk. X made over $1 billion last year. But more cases are coming.
EU officials say they will watch X closely in 2026.
