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The EU has slapped Elon Musk with a $140 million fine for refusing to censor content on his social-media platform X, in contravention of the bloc’s controversial Digital Services Act (DSA).
The hefty fine, announced by Bloomberg, is the first to be issued under the 2023 law, with EU lawmakers promising further investigations and fines for internet companies that refuse to comply with its rules.
Musk is accused of “misleading” users and failing to provide the EU with access to user data.
Breitbart reports, “According to the Commission’s statement, X was found to have misled users with its paid-for blue checkmark verification symbol, failed to provide researchers with access to data, and did not properly set up an advertising repository. The fine, while lower than expected, is still set to escalate tensions between the EU and the White House over free speech and tech regulation.”
Vice President JD Vance took to X to slam the EU for its actions, which he described as “garbage.”
“Rumors swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage.”
Under the DSA, the EU can impose fines of as much as six percent of an online platform’s annual global revenue for failing to address what it deems to be illegal content, “disinformation,” or transparency issues.
Several other major US tech firms are also being investigated under the DSA, including Apple, Google, and Meta.
In recent months, the EU has handed out substantial fines against Apple and Meta under its digital antitrust rules and against Google and Apple under standard competition law.
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