Elon Musk’s X fined $140 million by European Commission over 'deceptive' blue checkmark and lack of transparency

Gist

The European Commission fined X $140 million for deceptive blue checkmarks, opaque ad transparency, and denying researchers access to public data under the Digital Services Act.

LLM Summary

X, formerly Twitter, was fined 120 million euros ($140 million) by the European Commission for violating transparency rules under the Digital Services Act. The penalties stem from deceptive design of its blue checkmark, lack of ad transparency, and failure to provide data access to researchers. X has 60–90 days to submit compliance plans, with potential ongoing fines for non-compliance.

Full Article Content

Key Points

* Social media giant X has been hit with a 120 million euro ($140 million) fine by the European Commission.

* The fine was over "the deceptive design of its 'blue checkmark', the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers," the commission said.

Social media giant X has been hit with a 120 million euro ($140 million) fine by the European Commission for breaching transparency obligations, in the latest challenge to a U.S. big tech company by the bloc.

The Commission on Friday said breaches include "the deceptive design of its 'blue checkmark', the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers."

The ruling follows a two-year investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which was adopted in 2022 to regulate online platforms. The Commission said that failure to comply with the decision may lead to penalty payments.

"Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU," said Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.

"With the DSA's first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users' rights and evading accountability."

X has been approached for comment.

Musk's social network now has 60 days to tell the Commission how it plans to address the issues with "deceptive" blue checkmarks, and 90 days to submit a plan to resolve the issues with its ads repository, and access to its public data for researchers.

"Failure to comply with the non-compliance decision may lead to periodic penalty payments," the Commission said in a statement.

The fine comes a day after the commission announced it would investigate whether Meta breached antitrust rules around a new policy on allowing AI providers' access to WhatsApp.

In recent months, the US has been pressuring Europe to soften, or abandon, its rules for big tech companies, including the Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act and other AI regulations that are under consideration.

Key Points

* Social media giant X has been hit with a 120 million euro ($140 million) fine by the European Commission.
* The fine was over "the deceptive design of its 'blue checkmark', the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers," the commission said.

Social media giant X has been hit with a 120 million euro ($140 million) fine by the European Commission for breaching transparency obligations, in the latest challenge to a U.S. big tech company by the bloc.

The Commission on Friday said breaches include "the deceptive design of its 'blue checkmark', the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers."

The ruling follows a two-year investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which was adopted in 2022 to regulate online platforms. The Commission said that failure to comply with the decision may lead to penalty payments.

"Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU," said Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.

"With the DSA's first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users' rights and evading accountability."

X has been approached for comment.

Musk's social network now has 60 days to tell the Commission how it plans to address the issues with "deceptive" blue checkmarks, and 90 days to submit a plan to resolve the issues with its ads repository, and access to its public data for researchers.

"Failure to comply with the non-compliance decision may lead to periodic penalty payments," the Commission said in a statement.

The fine comes a day after the commission announced it would [investigate whether](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/04/meta-faces-europe-antitrust-investigation-over-whatsapp-ai-rollout.html) [Meta](/quotes/META/) breached antitrust rules around a new policy on allowing AI providers' access to WhatsApp.

In recent months, the US has been pressuring Europe to soften, or abandon, its rules for big tech companies, including the Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act and other AI regulations that are under consideration.

Elon Musk’s X fined $140 million by European Commission over 'deceptive' blue checkmark and lack of transparency

📊 Workflow Status

Gist

LLM Summary

Full Article Content